


Something about Peter

by Caspinn, kalkoenvsneoklak



Series: Sweet Child of Mine [5]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: College, Depression, Everybody's in love with Peter and he doesn't know it, Extremis, Flash is still an asshole in the beginning, Getting Together, Inappropriate Behavior, Infidelity, Interdimensional Travel, Introducing Bleeding Edge Armor, Mentions of Major Character Death, Multi, Panic Attacks, Peter and Johnny are roommates, Post-Infinity War, Relationship Trouble, Venom fucks things up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-29
Updated: 2018-04-28
Packaged: 2019-03-11 04:26:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 26
Words: 131,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13516566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caspinn/pseuds/Caspinn, https://archiveofourown.org/users/kalkoenvsneoklak/pseuds/kalkoenvsneoklak
Summary: After having survived the infinity war, everybody tries to get their lives back to normal. But while Tony is trying to face the horrors he faced on the battlefield and Steve is keeping all his troubles to himself, their relationship seems to be at stake. Meanwhile, Peter gets to the real challenge in life; college. Only, after getting some bad news from Tony and Steve, something snaps inside of him. It all starts when he wakes up in the middle of the night and finds himself somewhere he doesn't remember going. Also, what's with the black suit?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've decided to go on with it. So far, there are 5 chapters written, and I don't yet know how much there will be of them. For now, the uploads will be one per week, though it might be driven up the more chapters I've written in advance.  
> A lot of this is references to already-posted timestamps, so make sure to read those first before you dive into this story.  
> Anyway, I hope I do most of these characters justice, and I hope you'll all enjoy the story!

****

 

 

**Christine:**

_It’s been exactly eight months since they’ve announced their relationship to the public. In those eight months, they've been elected as both America’s and the World’s favorite couple. Now, Mr. Stark and Captain Rogers, how have these past few months been for you?_

**Tony Stark:**

_Well, it’s not really like it’s a lot different. I mean, we’re still usually hiding in the public when we’re going out, but that’s mostly to avoid the press and all._

**Steve Rogers:**

_It’s good that it’s finally out there, though. I’m glad we get to be honest to the world. And that, despite all that has happened already, we’re stronger than ever. Tony and I can lean on each other, we have each other’s backs._

**Christine:**

_So you’ve been officially together for more than a year now. What are the upcoming plans for the future?_

**Steve Rogers:**

_Well, with us being an Avenger and also Tony’s responsibilities at Stark Industries, there’s not much that we’ve planned. We went on vacation for two weeks back in July, but other than that…_

**Tony Stark:**

_In case you’re wondering about a superhero-wedding, I’m afraid to disappoint you, Christine. The conversation came up, but we’re not ready for that (laughs)._

**Christine:**

_I’m sad to hear that. But there are other things than weddings, aren’t there? Thoughts about children, perhaps?_

**Steve Rogers:**

_That discussion came along as well (laughs). We talked about it, but agreed that it’s not in the cards for us. Or more, at least. We already have our hands full with a teenager in the house! Oops, I did not mean to say that._

**Christine:**

_A teenager? Any relative?_

**Steve Rogers:**

_He’s Tony’s official son. He’s been living with us in the tower for more than a year now. Or, rather, I’ve been living with them._

**Christine:**

_A son? The media has never heard about him before, I suspect?_

**Tony Stark:**

_No, they haven’t. And they won’t, anytime soon. We’ve agreed to wait until after he’s graduated before we introduce him to the world. But I suppose we can give you this bit of information._

**Christine:**

_That you’re raising your teenage son together? I must say, it’s big news, indeed._

**Steve Rogers:**

_It’s not as much raising as it is just… spending time together. He’s already pretty mature and responsible so it’s not like we have to be strict or anything. As it is, we’re actually really proud of him all of the time._

**Tony Stark:**

_I hope he’s proud of us, too. I mean, favorite couple of the year? Even I am proud of us!_

**Christine:**

_Did you expect the result of the votes? Or did it all come as a surprise?_

**Steve Rogers:**

_To honest, it was really a surprise. We didn’t even know there was a poll like that. I mean, we’re just like any ordinary couple. We argue over the stupidest things. I can’t count all the times Tony threw me out of the house (both laugh) during an argument._

**Tony Stark:**

_About ten times already. I’m counting, since I have the gifts of every time you came back to apologize (laughs again)._

**Christine:**

_Well, that’s about all the time we have. Is there something you want to say to your fans reading this?_

**Tony Stark:**

_We love all our fans, and everybody who’s being supporting us or our fellow Avengers. But we would like to ask, for the sake of our son, not to look for him until he’s ready for it. I’m sure that, when the time comes, you’re going to love him. But until then, you’ll have to make do with the two of us here._

**Steve Rogers:**

_Stay safe out there, and if you come across us, don’t be afraid to approach us. We never bite._

**Christine:**

_Thank you, Mr. Rogers and Mr. Stark._

* * *

 

 

“Are you sure you want to move into an apartment, Peter? It’s not like you’re far away from us, after all.”

Peter rolls his eyes the moment he hears the question. It’s about the fifth time already that Tony’s asked, and so far he’s always gotten the same answer.

“Yes, Dad, I’m sure,” Peter says, taking some of his clothes out of his closet and putting it in his suitcase. “Besides, I’ll still be here every two week-ends. And I’m not alone.”

“But it’s _Storm_! You really couldn’t convince Harry to move in with you?” Tony continues, taking one of Peter’s sweaters out of the closet and adding it to the pile.

“Harry’s skipping college this year, Dad, I already told you,” Peter returns. When he takes out the suit he wore for prom, he hesitates for a bit. Would he need it? Could there be any occasion for him to be wearing something like that in college?

“What about Ned?”

“Going to MIT, as I told you.”

“Yaël?”

“Too busy with the baby.”

“Wade?”

“I’m not suicidal, you know…”

“Michelle?”

“I’m not moving in with MJ?!” Peter almost shouts out, surprised even by his own reaction to that. MJ’s just been a touchy subject, lately.

“Why not? I thought it was going somewhere? Didn’t you guys go to prom together?” Tony wonders. When he gets deep enough in the closet, he pulls out an old Iron Man plushy he got from his Uncle when he was ten. Peter smiles when he sees it, taking it over from him.

“Yeah, we went to prom _once_ , and right when I was going to kiss her the school exploded, remember?” Peter counters, recalling the events well enough. They were actually getting somewhere, and then, again, Dr. Doom decided to destroy the fun. It wasn’t like he was actually aiming for the school, but Johnny, that idiot, tried to get back-up and baited him to the school full of teenage superheroes instead. He’d been lucky that Wanda, Harry and Peter were there to help him out.

“Right, that evening sucked,” Tony points out. Then he sighs again, taking a framed picture of Peter and his parents. It must be weird for him, looking at pictures of Peter’s mother and knowing that she’s no longer here.

Tony never knew of her death; it had reached the newspapers, but Tony had been in the rehabilitation back then to get over his depression. Nobody told him about it afterwards because nobody’d think he cared.

“Listen, I need you to remember one thing then, Peter.”

“Don’t let in strangers, always lock up, and you or any other member of the Avengers are only _one_ call away. I know, Dad, you already told me,” Peter assures him, giving him a smile. Tony, too, smiles back, though only slightly.

“Alright, alright,” he mutters. “I’m sorry, Peter. I just- I wouldn’t know what to do if anything would ever happen to you.”

“Dad, it’s college! Nothing is going to happen to me!” Peter laughs, taking his Dad’s hands into his own. “I’ve survived high school, how bad can college be?”

Tony chuckles. “You’re going to regret asking that question,” he says.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Peter grins.

“Boys! Time for dinner!” May shouts in the background. The two look up towards the hallway. Peter’s bedroom at May’s apartment is a lot smaller than at the penthouse, but Peter’s pretty much used to it by now. He hurries out of his room with quick steps, gently poking his father in the side before getting into the hall.

“Coming!” he shouts back. A quick look behind and he sees Tony slowly following him, too. He’s been so worried lately, it’s almost driving Peter crazy! And the worry didn’t come gradually, either; it was just… there, all of the sudden. One morning, before they were going to a fundraising party from Stark Industries. That’s when it started, because both Tony and Steve started acting weird after that.

“Ah, there’s our champ,” Steve says with a grin the moment Peter appears in the dining room. Peter smiles back towards Steve, who is wearing culinary gloves and is transporting a hot pot of food towards the table.

“Hey, Steve! I didn’t know you were here?” Peter asks.

“Yeah, Tony told me where you two were so I thought I’d help out a bit,” Steve offers. Peter smiles but shrugs.

“It’s alright, though, we’re almost finished. It’s not like we’re moving everything, and May and I already went to buy new furniture.”

Steve nods in understanding.

“Right. And what about Johnny? When is he moving in?” he asks, starting to distribute the meat May prepared. If Peter wouldn’t know better, he would have thought Steve would be the father of the house here.

“The same time as I am,” Peter says. “So there’ll be the party tomorrow evening, and the day afterwards we’re going.”

“Good.” Steve looks up when Tony finally arrives. What was taking him so long? Peter frowns a bit when he sees his father there. He’s ready to roll his eyes when he catches the worry on Tony’s face. What could possibly have happened that would make Tony doubt him this much?

“Hi, dear, when did you get here?” Tony asks, nearing Steve to kiss him on the cheek. After that, he takes place on the seat next to Peter.

“About ten minutes ago or so. I immediately went to help May in the kitchen,” Steve explains. Right at that exact time, May comes in with another steaming pot.

“And right on time, too! I mean, I’m getting better at cooking, but Steve managed to save this batch here!” May chuckles a bit before putting the pot down on the table. “You truly are a hero, Mr. Rogers,” she jokes.

“Ah, well, only trying to do my duty, ma’am,” Steve jokes, giving her a wink. May laughs again, and for a moment, Peter is reminded of a time where May used to have a crush on Captain America. If only her past self could see her now, joking along with the man while also dating one of his colleagues.

Rhodey’s not here this evening, headed to some sort of convention with the army or whatever. Peter didn’t really catch much of it, but apparently Rhodey’s getting another medal or something like that. It’s a pretty big deal, he supposes. He hopes he’ll get to see the medal once Rhodey’s back home.

Yeah… _home_. It’s not like he’s officially moved in here already, but he’s here more often than not. And Peter doesn’t mind at all; he likes Rhodey. He’s like this cool kind of uncle; Tony’s best friend since college, and now his Aunt’s boyfriend! Besides the fact that he’s a badass army-dude who has a damn good reputation, he’s also the War Machine, half-time Avenger and hero.

He used to be full-time, but his injury has made it hard for him to be in action for long times. He’s not exactly in pain, but it’s not always easy. So sometimes he joins the battles (mostly the bigger ones that require extra assistance) and other times he stays behind the screens, offering help doing research.

Once they’re all seated with their food front of him, Peter takes a good look at his Dad in front of him. Despite the usual worrying he looks happy. It’s a complete contrast to last year, where he and Steve were still separated, and he was suffering in silence, as always.

Now, Tony doesn’t drink anymore. Not even _one_ little wine during parties or anything of the kind. He keeps himself away from the dangers of alcohol with the help of Dr. Wynedell, his psychiatrist. In the past few months, he’s even gotten used to his heightened strength, though the amount of inventions that have come out since he’s got it is still significantly lower than normally.

Steve, too, looks good. Having lost the beard in the beginning of the summer, he’s changed nothing at all. He keeps his hair a little bit longer than he normally would, but other than that, he’s back to his old self. Everybody in their crazy family knows well enough how much Tony has mourned the loss of the beard, since he kept complaining about it all the time.

“So, now that Peter’s moving out, do you have any plans, May?” Steve asks in between his bites, pulling Peter out of his train of thoughts. May smiles and nods.

“Yes, I, uh, I thought about changing from full-time to half-time at the hospital. Maybe look up some small houses in one of the calmer districts, you know?” she offers. Peter knows about her plans to move the apartment. To be honest, the biggest reason they’ve stayed in here all the time is because they couldn’t really afford anything bigger or better. And it was a good home for a while, but Peter can understand she would want to move out eventually.

“You need any help with the search?” Tony asks before stuffing his mouth with his food. He keeps his eyes on May while he chews.

“No, it’s alright. Jim has already offered to help me with it,” she says happily. ‘Jim’ is May’s nickname for Rhodey. “The loan you gave me is help enough, Tony.”

“It wasn’t a loan,” Tony states, again. May ignores it. She refuses to accept the large sum of money he’s offered her and keeps on claiming that she will pay him back one day. Peter already knows Tony won’t accept that money back, in return.

“So, uh, that party you’re planning. Will it be at the tower?” May easily deflects the conversation. Peter shakes his head.

“No, it’ll be at the compound! But it’s not going to be something big, just a little get-together with everybody,” he explains. That involves bringing Ned and MJ around to the compound. It’s obvious that the former was _very_ excited the moment Peter shared the news. Harry and Johnny are coming, and so are Yaël and Wade. Wanda and Vision already live at the compound, so it’s obvious they’ll be there as well.

“And no old people allowed,” Tony mutters jokingly. Peter grins at him.

“Correct,” he says, sticking out his tongue. Steve starts laughing at that.

“And you have any plans with MJ?” May asks while wiggling her eyebrows at him. Peter rolls his eyes, his grin disappearing quickly enough and his cheeks reddening.

“No! We’re just friends, we have nothing planned,” he mutters out, trying not to think back on that almost-kiss during senior prom.

“I can just recall the times when you came home to me and all you did was complain about this girl! Apparently, she had an internship at Stark Industries, back then?” May giggles. Tony nods.

“Yes Michelle Jones. I remember her interview, liked her attitude. It’s mostly why I accepted her,” Tony returns. When Steve turns to look at him questioningly, Tony shakes his head. “What? She gave me a PowerPoint on how it would be major empowerment towards all the other girls if she would be accepted, and how it would prove that I wouldn’t be a misogynist.”

“So, she kind of blackmailed you?” Steve states. Tony looks up to think for a moment, but then shrugs.

“She kind of did, but in my defense, I can’t afford to be called a misogynistic! Pepper would have killed me!”

Peter snorts. “Don’t worry, Dad, I’m sure she wouldn’t have done that at all. She would have tried subtler ways to make you pay,” he assures him. Tony just frowns, looking down at his plate for a bit as he starts to wonder what exactly happened that day.

“But you don’t have anything planned to woo-her? I mean, after all that ‘how to ask your redhead out-‘ stuff that happened before senior prom, I would have figured you to be serious about this?” May asks, getting the conversation back to where it was previously, much to Peter’s chagrin.

And yes, Peter thinks back of that week where he asked around to every person who had ever had a redheaded girlfriend how exactly he was supposed to ask MJ out. Those persons were Tony (who was with Pepper once), Bucky (who is currently with Nat), Bruce (who was with Nat once), Happy (who is currently with Pepper) and Harry (who was with MJ before they broke up).

“Not really,” Peter admits in all honesty. When prom sucked so hard, he almost came to think that it was just a sign from the universe telling him that it was not meant to be. Besides, after all that crap with Thanos, it also feels kind of stupid to be worrying about getting a girlfriend.

Their victory towards Thanos… that’s another question that has been kept unanswered. Because while Peter was sure the Avengers had never met the Guardians of the Galaxy, or that Thor had never known about Peter’s existence, it seemed like they were all too aware about each other. There hadn’t been any introductions, just cryptic talk that made it clear that they didn’t want Peter to know too much about it.

Whenever Peter asked something about it, they just give him the crap explanation of: _“It all happened so fast, I can’t remember a thing!”_

“Too bad, I think you two would make a great couple,” May then states with a light smile. Tony and Steve, too, nod with wide grins. Peter feels his face flush even more before he clears his throat.

“Okay, yeah, uh, whatever,” he mutters out. Then he stuffs his mouth full of food and tries to divert his eyes from his family around him. A day of not being embarrassed around them would be great, thank you.

 

* * *

 

 

Peter only met Jane Foster after Thanos’ defeat. She’d been put into hiding along with Dr. Selvig, Darcy and Dr. Cho and had only been allowed out afterwards. And while their first introduction had been short, it’s close to being one of the most memorable things in his life.

It starts with her storming towards Thor, who now has only one eye and short hair. When standing next to him, Peter had been suddenly reminded of how small she actually is. But, never too small to slap her space-boyfriend on the face with an angry expression on her face.

“ _I DUMPED you?! We have ONE fight and you ASSUME I DUMPED YOU?!”_

Yeah, it wasn’t a proud moment for Thor, who, while embarrassed about it, admitted to the fact that he’d thought she’d broken up with him after the fight. What the argument was about, Peter has no idea. What he does know is that Thor is, to this day, still trying to get Jane’s forgiving for disappearing. This means that he’s running random errands, doing stupid things like charging up her phone by pointing at it, and that he has to cook. And that, of course, all next to being king of an alien Kingdom that is now rebuilding in Norway.

Yeah, despite the heavy toll the war against Thanos has had on the whole gang, it seems like they’re more alive than ever now. Peter smiles as he sits in the common room of the Compound. Scott and Clint are racing each other on Mario Karts, while Bucky and Sam are cheering on for them on the couch next to them. Natasha has found a comfort in baking pies and cakes, which is where she suddenly spends all of her time in. She even offered to make Peter some stuff for the little party, and while Peter has assured her that she doesn’t have to do it, she’s still busying herself in the kitchen with Vision helping her out. Hilde, Hope and Wanda are playing cards, while Bruce is watching and offering his ideas to the group.

They’ve certainly expanded since the battle; while Steve moved out and Bruce never really lived in the compound in the first place, now Scott and Hope have their own room in here. They don’t actually _live_ in the compound but have an apartment somewhere in New York. Mostly, though, they return to San Francisco to see Scott’s daughter Cassie every two weekends (Peter met her once, and she’s probably too adorable for words!).

Hilde lives in the Compound, mostly lacking any other place to live, though she has been thinking about returning to New Asgard to help with the construction of the city, rejoining Thor and Jane back there.

“Who do we have here? Care to join us in the next match, mini-Stark?” Clint jokes without removing his eyes from the screen. Peter, who has just entered the room with a bag of chips in his hands.

“As if, you just want me there so you can eat my stuff,” Peter mutters with his mouth full.

“Oh, you’re hurting my feelings, Peter!” Clint counters, lifting a hand to his head dramatically. Scott uses the moment of distraction to his benefit. “Say do you have any ideas as to what we could do for team-activities?”

Peter lifts an eyebrow, smirking towards the archer as he sees Scott winning on the screen.

“Ever thought about movie-nights? You can do horror-Saturday or something?” he suggests. Clint and Sam suddenly have wide smiles on their faces, while Bruce pales upon the mention of it.

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” he admits in embarrassment. Everybody turns to him with an understanding expression.

But Peter wouldn’t really know what else to offer them. Bucky and Natasha have already revealed that they’ll be moving out soon enough, taking back Natasha’s old floor in Stark Tower. That way, they’re still close to a part of the team, but separated enough from them to have time to themselves. In the end, all that’s left are Clint, Sam, Wanda and Vision; that means a couple and two guys who can’t always fully stand each other.

“Ah, if it isn’t the world’s favorite couple of the year!” Clint suddenly shouts, making everybody turn towards the door where they see Tony and Steve walk inside. Steve’s face turns red from the attention he’s getting, and Tony only rolls his eyes.

“Please, couple of the century is more like it,” he jokes, throwing away Clint’s greeting with a wave. “We’ve come to pick up… well, uh, everybody. The kids have requested the place to their own tonight, remember?”

“I’m almost finished with this cake!” Natasha shouts from the kitchen. Everybody lets out a laugh at that. Scott turns off the game before standing up. Then he walks towards Hope, kissing her cheek.

“I suggest we return home, then?” he offers. Hope nods, throwing her cards down to finish the game. She, too, stands up and grabs her coat from her chair.

“Good idea. Let’s order Chinese, shall we?”

Scott nods, and the two say their goodbyes to everybody before heading out of the room. Bruce then, too, comes to stand up.

“You have anything in mind, Tony?” he asks. Tony opens his mouth, but nothing comes out. Quickly, he turns to Steve, who shakes his head fondly, smiling widely upon seeing his partner being so unprepared.

“I suggest we go to a bar, have a night out?” he suggests. When Clint breathes in to start talking, Steve quickly interrupts. “Without alcohol.”

Clint sags his shoulders in disappointment. Tony rolls his eyes and shakes his head.

“No way, _with_ alcohol! I’ll be the designated driver, I just want to see Clint and Sam getting shit-faced at last!” Tony grins towards Peter, winking at him. Peter, too, snorts. It _could_ be very funny to see, indeed.

“It would be funny for all of us, since Bruce shouldn’t be drunk, I can’t get drunk and neither can Hilde, Steve or Nat,” Bucky adds to it with his arms crossed. Natasha then suddenly comes back into the room, her hair put up in a messy bun.

“What’s that about me?” she asks.

“You can’t get drunk,” Peter explains to her. Natasha hums in understanding, getting herself to Bucky’s side but not exactly touching him. They’re not as clingy as Steve and Tony are, just at the most touching each other on the arm. They never kiss in public, never speak to each other as a couple around the others. Sometimes, Peter wonders if they’re actually a couple at all.

“If we can get a hold of Thor's Asgardian mead again, we could,” she offers. Then she walks towards a cabinet on the left side of the room, opening it up and taking four large bottles. “As it happens, I might have it here.”

Everybody’s mouth falls open. Peter blinks a few times, actually wondering if it’s really that strong as he suggests. Hilde marches to her, taking one bottle and opening it up. Taking a sniff, she grins.

“Ah, yes, that’s the stuff,” she says happily, immediately taking a large swing from it. Everybody gives her a look before turning towards Steve and Tony, who then shrug.

“You know, how bad can it be, right?” Steve offers. “Though in that case we should better move it to the tower, instead.”

Peter almost regrets that he won’t be there to witness it. Maybe he can convince the others to sneak into the tower and have a look. It could be hilarious! Without knowing more of their plans, the adults all leave the room after saying goodbye to Peter, Wanda and Vision. Peter clears his throat the moment they’re alone, turning to face Vision and Wanda a bit hesitantly.

“Okay, I’m sure that’s gonna end up great,” he offers a bit in sarcasm. Wanda giggles, and Vision shrugs. “Actually, I’m a bit surprised Steve would even agree to this, even. Maybe dad’s rubbing off on him.”

“I don’t expect him to be drunk, really,” Wanda offers him with a wide smile. But alright, shall we get the place ready?

Peter nods, and they get to working. Wanda gets the drinks, Vision and Peter shift the couches around. They pull out the snacks, put Nat’s cake ready to take. There’s like a whole buffet there. When Peter asks FRIDAY to put up the music, playful notes start playing.

Harry’s the first one to arrive. Technically, that’s not hard, since he still lives here. He comes in the room with his bags from the store. Before Peter can ask what he bought, he opens it up.

“Travel stuff, man! I need a good swimming suit! And a camera! Even bought myself a new phone. I’m rich, I can definitely afford it!” he says with a wink. Then he hurries to put it all away in his room. By the time he returns, Ned is there as well.

They take a drink and they get to talking. It’s light banter and discussions about their plans after school. Vision doesn’t go to school, but he entertains everyone by adding logical comments that nobody really asks for. Ned describes his apartment in Massachusetts, and his expectations of how college is going to be. Harry then reveals all the places he’s planning to see on his trip.

When Wade makes his entrance, it’s with the usual flair. Yaël, who is shaking her head with her hands shielding her eyes, portrays exactly how everybody is feeling when Wade turns up wearing a French maid uniform.

“I told him not to do it, but he seems insistent on giving you a lap dance tonight,” she explains after giving him a hug as a greeting.

“Ah, girl! You ruined the surprise!” Wade complains. Once she’s pulled away from Peter, Wade suddenly pulls him towards him and kisses him straight on the mouth. Peter squeezes his eyes shut in those few seconds that it lasts. “Aaah, that was my second gift.”

“Uh, thanks,” Peter mutters the moment he’s freed. He wipes his mouth on his sleeve, eyeing Wade carefully.

“You liked it? There’s more where that one came from!” Wade continues. Peter shakes his head, holding up his hands while taking a few steps back.

“I’m fine, Wade, don’t bother,” he assures him, not needing another kiss from the guy. Once Wade looks up and finds Wanda a bit further away, he grins.

“Ah, Miss Beauty! How are you?” And with that he’s gone. Peter blinks a few times, and Yaël gives him another apologetic glance.

“Yeah I told him not to do that, too,” she says.

“I’m starting to see he’s no longer listening to you,” he jokes out hesitantly. Yaël, too, laughs. After that she joins Wade, Wanda and Vision on the couch. Ned and Harry have found their spot behind the TV-screen, controllers in their hands as they start up a Mario Kart game. Peter is just about to get to them when he sees another figure arrive in the garden.

Johnny! He puts down the fire, shakes his body a bit, and then waves at Peter. He hurries to the door to let him in, giving Johnny a wide smile. They might only know each other a couple of months, but it’s easy to say he’s already become one of Peter’s best friends. Sure, Ned and Harry are his best friends, too, but Johnny is actually the only one who goes out on patrol with him regularly.

“Sorry! I was gonna come in normal clothes but I forgot they burn off when I flame up,” Johnny explains his appearance. Peter shakes his head, grinning towards Johnny as he pulls him into a hug.

“That’s alright, pal!” he says. After the two give each other a slap on the shoulder, they pull back and get themselves inside. “You can take whatever you want from the tables.”

“Sure thing,” Johnny exclaims, practically running towards the table where he takes the bottle of coke and fills his cup – Peter wasn’t allowed alcohol since nobody here – except for maybe Wade and Yaël – has reached drinking age. So, it’s mostly soda and coke for them. But that’s alright, Peter wasn’t planning on drinking anyway.

They sit down on the couch, add live-commentary on Harry’s and Ned’s gaming skills. A few times, Peter joins in on the conversation happening next to him. He’s about to get a new drink when FRIDAY speaks up.

“ _Miss Jones has just arrived and is waiting at the front door. Do you want me to let her in?”_ she asks the way she’s asked about the others as well. And while he told her that, yes, she could let them in, no he shakes his head.

“No, I’ll get her!” he says before thinking of it. Immediately everybody on the couch makes a knowing sound, Harry and Ned throwing their fists in the air to accentuate it.

“Petey’s gonna get some!” Harry shouts! Peter rolls his eyes.

“You’re all idiots,” he mumbles. He puts his cup down on the table and gets into the long hallway that leads to the front door of the building. One of the biggest reasons as to why Peter wants to get her personally is because she’s never been to the compound before.

Peter already sees her on the other side of the window. She has her back facing him, looking up around the place. In the back, Peter can see a car drive away; probably her parents dropping her off. What must they think about this? Peter can almost imagine Mr. Jones’ reaction to her telling him she’ll be at the Avengers Facility.

“MJ, hi!” Peter greets her the moment he’s opened the door. MJ turns around in surprise. Her dark eyes are open wide and her mouth is slightly dropped. When she sees Peter standing there, she gives him an awkward smile.

“Hi, Peter,” she greets him in return. It’s such a stark contrast to the first time Peter met her. For a long time, MJ always came over as a hard-ass, not seeming to care about things. It seems that being with Harry peeled that hard shell off of her and made her a bit more… human? Peter doesn’t even remember when he started to actually like her, but it must be somewhere after her telling Spider-Man that he’s the reason she broke up with Harry.

Yeah, that had been the surprise of the century, but Harry hadn’t been angry. Instead, he urged Peter on to ask MJ for senior prom instead. Harry’s a good friend.

“You found the place easily?” Peter asks. MJ clears her throat then, pointing towards the car that has by now disappeared.

“Actually, uh, your chauffeur came to get me? I was about to drive, myself, but then he was suddenly in front of my house,” she says with a shrug. Peter frowns for a moment wondering who his chauffeur could possibly be.

“You mean Happy?” he then asks. MJ frowns, and then shrugs again.

“I suppose, he had a funny name indeed,” she returns. Then she clears her throat, looking down at the ground. Peter, too, lowers his head.

“Uh, you want to come in?” he asks before thinking better of it. Then he slaps his forehead for that comment. MJ just smirks at him.

“Of course, tiger,” she says with a wide smile. As she passes him, she puts a hand on his shoulder and gives him a lingering look. After that, she’s inside, taking a few steps into the building before waiting on Peter to guide her. “Am I supposed to follow the noise or are you going to show me the way?”

“Right!” Peter almost shouts. He locks up the door again and hurries after her.

 

* * *

 

 

“You’re recording everything, right?”

“ _Of course, sir.”_

“Good, I need to show this to Peter later on.” Tony gets himself another glass of water before dropping back down on the couch. He doesn’t take his eyes off his guests that are currently making way too much noise. “Say, how is he doing back there?”

“ _Peter and his company are enjoying themselves well enough,”_ FRIDAY offers him. “ _They’ve started up a game of charades and it looks like his team is currently winning.”_

Tony smiles. “Good,” he says. Then he drinks from his glass, eyeing Steve who is still bravely hanging on. Some incredible genius thought it would be a great idea to play twister, which is what they’ve been doing for the past half hour. Tony could have gone for longer, but eventually he decided it was enough for him and he pretended to fail at it. Now, out of the game, he watches how Steve, Barnes, Natasha and Hilde are still going.

“This is never going to end, is it?” Bruce asks next to him, snickering a bit when Clint turns the arrow again and Bucky needs to put her right foot on red, causing for his ass to be pressed right in Steve’s face. Tony can’t even bring it in himself to be jealous at it, instead practically laughing his ass off.

“Never,” he gets out while wiping the tears away from his eyes. “Honestly, Brucibear, I never thought I’d get to see Steve drunk, but here we are!”

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” Bruce states. Tony winks at him.

“It’s… refreshing, somehow. I don’t know how to explain it,” Tony shrugs. “Say, any luck on contacting Betty again?”

Bruce looks away, embarrassed immediately. Tony recognizes that reaction on the spot.

“No way! What’s keeping you from trying, Brucie! I’m sure she’ll take you back right away!”

Bruce shrugs. “That’s the problem, I suppose. Maybe she shouldn’t.”

Tony shakes his head, a bit sad that his friend thinks so lowly about himself. “You sell yourself short, man. I’m sure she adores you.”

Bruce gives him a weak smile before putting his glass down. Then he stretches his arms and yawns.

“Well, not that this wasn’t fun, but I’m going to bed now,” he says. He punches Tony on the shoulder before turning to the others. “Good night!”

There are slurred responses from the others. Sam’s out from the world and Clint’s about ready to drop down as well. Bucky, in his confusion at Bruce’s sudden departure, loses his balance and drops down. With that, he takes Steve down along as well.

“Shhhhhh-it!” Steve slurs out, rolling down on his back and staying like that for a moment. In those short seconds, Tony almost thinks of him as a turtle that has rolled and can’t get back. “Bucky you ch-cheated!”

“I did not!” Bucky slurs in return, crawling towards Steve but stumbling again. The two make a hilarious sight. Tony doesn’t regret this evening at all!

“I nnnnnnnn- where’s Tooooooooooooooooooony?”

“I’m here, babe,” Tony tells him with a wink. Steve looks up immediately, but Tony’s not sure he can see him. “Come here for a sec, honey.”

Steve starts crawling to Tony while Bucky is holding on to his leg. Tony bites his lips together to keep himself from laughing. It takes a little while for Steve to reach him at last. He climbs up on the couch, and immediately cuddles up to him. Meanwhile Bucky is still holding on to Steve’s leg.

“I llllllo- I love you soooooooooooooooooooooo much T-Tony,” he hiccups out. He presses his face into Tony’s chest, rubbing up to him as if he were a cat. “I love Peter a-a-and I love y-y-you. I love y-you b-b-b-both! But not the s-same way of course or th-that’d b-be weiiiiiiiird.”

“And I love you, too, sweetheart,” Tony tells him. He throws an arm around Steve’s shoulder and gives him a kiss on the back of his head. Steve actually kind of starts purring after that. “And I’m going to love showing you all of this tomorrow when you’re sobering up.”

Steve shakes his head, but his eyes are still closed. “Noooooooooooooooh! That’s evil! N-no sex for you th-this week.”

“That’s worth it,” Tony jokes, earning him a slap on the shoulder. Meanwhile, Natasha and Hilde are still going. Clint keeps on spinning, though he’s becoming less and less understandable.

“Jusss’ kiss al’rdy!” he shouts at one point, to which Bucky lets an angry shout.

“HEY! TH-THAT’S MA FUTURE-WIFE YOU’RE T-TALKING ‘BOUT!”

But before Bucky can get to Clint, he falls down face-first on the ground. He doesn’t move, instead starting to snore. Clint, soon after that, falls asleep as well. Natasha and Hilde simultaneously agree that the game is over, both laughing at the pathetic men around them.

“I always knew women were the superior gender,” Hilde says without even stumbling over her words. Natasha nods, slapping the Asgardian on the shoulder. “You know, you would make a great Valkyrie. Too bad we no longer exist.”

Natasha shakes her head and puts a finger on Hilde’s mouth to shut her up.

“No,” she says shortly. “As l-long as you’re here, the Valkyrie exist.”

Hilde laughs at that, giving Natasha a long stare before pushing herself on her feet.

“I’ll head to Bruce’s floor, I’m sure he has an extra bed for me. Do you need any help carrying him downstairs?” Hilde points towards Bucky, who is now completely out of the world. Natasha gives him a long look before shaking his head.

“I can handle him,” she then says, grinning back up to Hilde. Eventually she, too, stands up. That’s Tony’s cue to round things up at last. He tries to get back on his feet before he realizes that Steve has fallen asleep against his chest.

“Steve, wake up, we’re going to bed,” Tony tells him softly. Steve hums against him.

“But you’re so comfortable,” he complains, though his words are almost not understandable. Natasha looks at them and snorts.

“Looks like we’ll be carrying our men,” she says. Tony rolls his eyes but can’t help but agree. Sure, Steve might be much taller and more muscular than Tony, but he’s no longer that heavy for him. Tony can lift easily enough as long as he doesn’t struggle.

So carefully he takes him into his arms, carrying him bridal style as he brings him to the bedroom. He nods towards Natasha who is in the same position but only headed to the elevator.

“What about these two?” she asks before he’s into the hallway. Tony gives Sam and Clint a long look.

“I’ll get them in Peter’s bed. I’m sure he won’t mind,” he says. Hilde then rolls up her sleeves and walks towards Clint instead.

“I’ll help you, Stark,” she says. Tony nods at her gratefully.

“Peter’s room is the first one on the right,” he instructs. After that, he heads towards his own bedroom to put Steve down at last. Steve starts struggling once Tony starts undressing him.

“No, no, no, don’t do this! I’m in a relationship,” he mutters out. Tony smiles lightly before pressing a kiss on Steve’s lips.

“I know, and a gentleman should take care of his drunk boyfriend, don’t you think?” Tony asks him playfully. Steve hums out again.

“I’m not in the mood for sex tonight,” Steve returns, almost in a whisper. He keeps his eyes shut as Tony undresses him.

“That’s okay, baby. We’ll make a rain-check, alright?” Not that he was intending on having sex right now. Seeing Steve drunk has mostly been fun , but it hasn’t exactly improved Tony’s lust for the evening. Tony undoes his belt and pulls his pants off in one swift motion.

“I’m sorry, Tony,” Steve eventually says once he’s dressed in only his underwear. Tony lifts up an eyebrow in confusion while he folds up Steve’s clothes and puts them on the drawer next to the bed.

“Why are you sorry?” he asks. He pulls up the covers and throws them over Steve.

“I couldn’t save Peter. When the time came to it, I wasn’t good enough.”

“Steve…” Tony can’t continue, feeling his throat suddenly hurting before he can say anything more.

“And I know you want another kid. I’m sorry I’ve taken that away from you.”

Tony stands still for a moment, staring at his slumbering partner in the bed. He blinks a few times, wondering if this is what’s on Steve’s mind most of the time.

“Steve,” he starts, taking a few breaths. But Steve’s no longer awake, and Tony is left alone in this discussion. He clears his throat before getting back to the living room where he sees Hilde already carrying Sam as well.

“I’m just putting them down in the bed, if that’s alright?” she asks. Tony nods.

“Uh, yeah that’s good,” he says. Hilde starts dragging Sam along before noticing Tony standing there.

“You alright?” she asks, a bit confused. Tony nods hesitantly.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks for helping.”

Hilde gives him a long, inspecting look. “Are you sure?”

“Really, I’m good, Hilde. Don’t worry about me,” he assures her, trying to get up his ‘I’m fine’-smile. Hilde doesn’t seem to believe him, but at least she decides to drop the subject.

“Alright, I’ll get him to bed and then I’m heading down. Good night, Stark.”

Tony nods at her, watching her disappear into Peter’s room. Tony lets out a long breath and looks up at the ceiling.

“How’s Peter doing?” he asks FRIDAY.

“ _He’s still enjoying the party. They’ve moved on from charades to a scary movie.”_

Tony nods. “Good, that’s good,” he mutters out. “Tell me if anything happens, okay?”

“ _Of course, sir,”_ she returns.

Tony decides he doesn’t want to go to sleep yet. Not when his mind is so full now. So after Hilde leaves the penthouse to get to Bruce’s floor, he heads towards the balcony, instead. The fresh air gets into his lungs immediately. While it’s summer, there’s still a slightly cold breeze.

Steve’s words keep on passing through Tony’s mind, no matter how much he tries to banish them out. _I couldn’t save Peter. When the time came to it, I wasn’t good enough._ Tony had been right there, had been running immediately behind Steve to get to Peter. They were _both_ too late to reach him. Tony closes his eyes and tries to hold back a tear while he remembers that one day they’ve overwritten due to indescribable time-travel.

But images of a lifeless Peter comes back into his mind, and Tony shakes his head. He opens his eyes again, looking into the city that never sleeps. There are cars everywhere, lights everywhere. There’s no rain tonight, neither will there be tomorrow.

Tony had been a bit sad when Steve admitted that he didn’t want kids. He’d thought he lost something before he even had it. He had been angry at Steve without ever telling him, pretended that everything was fine while, for a whole week, he was about ready to decide the relationship couldn’t work like this anymore before he came to his senses.

Now, the idea of having another child to worry about, to risk seeing dead if they couldn’t get there in time… Tony can’t even think about it. He wipes away a few tears, wishing he could just forget about that whole thing. What matters now is that Peter’s alive; he’s in the compound, having a little party of his own. He’s having fun.

Tony loos up when he suddenly sees something in the sky. It’s like a little meteor or something. In a quick motion, it flies over the city until it lands somewhere in the forest. He looks at it for a long while before FRIDAY starts talking.

“ _Sir, something happened at the Facility.”_

Tony has never jumped in action so quickly. In just a matter of seconds, the Iron Man suit is surrounding him and he’s in the air.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so nobody's alright in this story. That's about the best summary I can give it!
> 
> Updates are on Sunday's from now on, and hopefully I'll get more chapters ready so they can become bi-weekly again.

For a moment, Peter wonders if this is it; if it’s going to happen now.

They’re on the couch, having just started up a movie called ‘Vvitch’, and here they are already. Sitting close together, arms and thighs touching. One would only need to lower their head to rest it on the other. Peter wonders what would happen if he moves his hand towards hers.

He hesitates on doing it; what if she doesn’t want it? What if he’s read all the signs wrong? What if it’s another best friend that she likes? It could be Ned, for all he knows, right? Not that she’s ever shown any interest in the guy, either, of course.

Peter takes a quick look around. They’re not all seated on the same couch. Wade is seated on the ground, eating strawberry-flavored popcorn (which Peter tasted and personally found disgusting). On the complete end of the couch are Ned and Harry. The former is already falling asleep, while Harry is pretending all he can not to act on the jump scares. He’s failing, though, since Peter can feel the couch moving every time it happens.

They’re seated next to Peter, who is sitting next to MJ. Then, there’s Johnny and Yaël, who are sharing a bowl of popcorn and end up laughing at every scary scene in the movie. They might be ruining a bit, but it helps as well. Peter quickly realizes that he doesn’t really like scary movies. On the last couch, Wanda and Vision are seated. Though they don’t seem to react on the movie all too much, there are a few times where Peter catches Wanda grabbing Vision’s hand without saying a word.

“That was _so_ fake!” Yaël mutters after the movie is playing for about forty minutes, and Johnny agrees by throwing popcorn towards the screen.

“Dude, you can clean it up afterwards, you know!” Peter quickly warns them.

“Right, sorry,” Johnny admits. When his eyes meet Peter’s for a while, he wiggles his eyebrows while nodding towards MJ.

Peter frowns, trying to make clear with his eyes that he needs to cut it out. He doesn’t need anybody telling him what to do about it, he’ll do it at his own pace, after all!

“You know I can see you, right?” MJ suddenly asks without moving her head. Peter feels his face redden. Johnny simply laughs.

“Good, then do something about it,” he says with a wink before turning back to the movie. Or rather, he pulls out his cellphone and starts showing stuff to Yaël, who seems to have lost interest in the movie as well.

Peter bites his lip, about ready to apologize to MJ about Johnny. She surprises him by putting her head on his shoulder and taking his hand into her own. He can’t help but let his mouth drop open in surprise. Peter blinks a few times, waiting for reality to kick back in.

“Zip it and watch the movie,” she tells him shortly. Peter closes his mouth again and nods lightly. He lets his head rest on top of hers, finding that he enjoys the closeness they’re sharing. He remembers how it was with Gwen, and though he still misses her dearly, it doesn’t hurt as much anymore. He feels like he’s no longer held back, and that he can just go for it again.

And they sit like that for a while, jumping together whenever there’s a scary part. When Wade suddenly hands them a glass of coke, they share it without any comment about it. It’s good, it’s pleasant, and for a moment Peter wishes they were alone, just the two of them.

Then, a shudder passes over him.

“Hey, what is that?” Yaël suddenly asks, making everybody look up in surprise. Outside, they can see something… shining? It’s like a star, but a _large_ one. MJ pulls away from him, and Peter gets on his feet to walk towards the window. Quickly, the others join him as well.

The sky is dark, which makes the thing all the more obvious. It looks like a comet, probably? A small one, surely. The only problem is that it’s headed straight for them.

“Everybody get outside!” Peter shouts. Nobody needs to be told twice, running into the hallway in speed-tempo – Wade is last due to the fact that he can’t die. “FRIDAY, can you open the door?!”

“ _The door has already been unlocked, and I’m warning Mr. Stark,”_ she assures him. They all but throw themselves towards the door, hearing the collision behind them. It sounds like a lot of destruction. A quick look behind them, and Peter can see flames.

“Open the door!” Harry shouts but nobody is close enough yet.

“I’ll hold it back for a while,” Johnny returns, running to the back of the group and holding up his hands. Peter doesn’t take the time to look at what is happening there, instead getting to the door at last. He smashes it open with his shoulders, causing for the glass to accidentally break. Crap, and that’s a reinforced door. It’s going to be another pricy repair.

They all but fly out of the building, falling on the ground the moment they’re outside. Peter doesn’t allow himself a moment to recover, instead jumping up again to count if everybody made it out. There’s Vision, holding Wanda in his arms as if to protect her from the flames. Next to them, on the ground, there’s Harry, who is leaning over MJ and Yaël. Peter’s glad he’s making sure they’re fine.

Next, there’s Ned, who is couching a bit before sitting up as well to look at the damage. He’s next to Wade, who looks like he fell in a big shard of glass and is currently hesitating on whether or not he should pull it out.

Eventually, there’s Johnny, who is flaming again. He has his back facing the others, still holding his hands up as if he’s holding back the fire. Peter stares at him for a few seconds before he finally relaxes.

“It’s good now,” Johnny says at last, dropping his hands and letting out a long breath. Turning off his own flames, he walks back towards the others. Standing next to Peter, he holds out his hand to help him up. Peter gratefully takes the aid.

“Is everybody alright?” Peter asks, only noticing then that his arms are bloody. That’s normal, since he just ran through a glass door practically. Looking at one of the cuts, he finds that it’s quite deep. That might be needing stitching up.

After everybody assured that they’re fine, they’re moving towards Wade to help him back up. Ned, in his panic, starts to call the ambulance before Yaël assures him that it’s not necessary since he’ll heal immediately. For one, Peter’s glad he can’t say the same, otherwise MJ might have been curious about it.

“Peter, do you know if there was anybody else in the building?” Harry asks, a bit scared. Wanda’s face turns into one of horror, only to get back to relief once Peter shakes his head.

“No, dad made sure nobody was in there tonight,” he says. Everybody lets out a long sigh. When Peter hears something else approaching, he looks up into the sky.

“Peter!”

That’s his father? Did he see it happen, too?

“Dad!” he shouts, running up towards Iron Man and waiting for his father to jump out of the suit. When that happens, he shouldn’t be too surprised that he’s pulled into a strong hug. Tony puts a hand behind his head to hold him closer to him.

“Oh, Peter! Are you alright? Is everybody alright?”

“Aside from Wade we all are,” Johnny says. “It was crazy! It really came out of nowhere!”

“No shit! If Peter hadn’t felt the danger beforehand, we would have been dead!” Ned adds to that, still a bit out of breath. Tony pulls back at last, giving Peter a good look to inspect for wounds.

“You’re hurt?” he states, noticing the cuts he has on his face and arms. Peter looks at them as well, shrugging.

“I broke through the door while I was opening it. It doesn’t hurt too much,” he admits. Tony still takes his arms and inspects the cuts closer. While Peter then expects for the other Avengers to come, there’s nobody. He frowns a bit, almost ready to ask when Tony starts talking instead.

“Do I need to call the fire-department?” he asks, probably wondering if anybody did it before him. Just as Peter is about to say ‘yes’, Johnny jumps in.

“I don’t think that will be necessary, I can stop it,” he says, though a bit hesitantly. Everybody looks at him, seeing him stand there uneasily. For a second, Peter wonders what he’s so afraid of.

“Are you sure?” Tony asks. “Your sister once told me it could be dangerous?”

Johnny shakes his head. “I know when to stop,” he says. “But I’ll need Iron Man as well since I probably can’t absorb it all.”

Tony gives him a long look before nodding. Letting go of Peter completely after giving him a kiss on the forehead, Tony jumps back into the suit, waiting for Johnny to give his instructions. It lasts about ten minutes before the last of the fire is down completely, but it’s fascinating to watch Johnny walking back inside, flaming on and surrounded by it as well. It’s almost hard to distinguish him.

Tony adds his help, using his – though limited – fire extinguisher he’s added in the suit for situations like these. Still, with his help, Johnny drops down on his knees the moment it’s over, completely out of breath.

“Johnny!” Harry shouts, running towards him and reaching out for him before Tony lands right in front of him.

“Don’t! He’s just absorbed all that heat. You don’t want to touch him right now,” he warns him, his mask off. Everybody gets back in the building carefully. Peter gives MJ a look, reaching out his hand for her to take. When she does, she squeezes his in affirmation. She’s fine, she’s not worried.

Peter likes that about her; she can stand her ground.

“So, uh, is there a lot of damage?” Ned asks nervously. Vision slowly hovers around the room, taking a good look at everything. Yaël and Wanda put Wade down against the wall, giving him the time to heal himself up. Tony stays in the suit, putting his hands on his hips and inspecting the damage.

“Well, I think it’s not hopeless, but I think it’s best everybody moves out for a little while. I’m shutting the place down for now,” he says, probably already giving it through with FRIDAY. “The others really couldn’t have found a better day to get drunk.”

Peter doesn’t comment on it. He watches Johnny on the ground, rolling on his back while he lets the full force of the impact of what happened earlier wash over him. He shifts his head a bit, giving Peter a wide smile.

“I was awesome, wasn’t I?” he asks. Peter rolls his eyes, and MJ laughs.

“Dude, it was movie-material. Hollywood would’ve loved you,” she says with a wink. “If you’re done being a superhero, you should try it out.”

“Hmm, doesn’t sound too bad,” Johnny breathes out, resting his head back and smiling. Meanwhile, Tony marches up to them, putting his hands on his hips while he looks at the teenagers (most of them, at least) around him.

“Is everybody getting home? Or do I need to drive someone?” he asks.

“I can fly home,” Johnny says.

“Wade and I came by car,” Yaël adds. The others don’t have a way of returning home, _or_ just saw their home being destroyed by… a meteor? What was it even? Peter turns towards MJ and gives her hand a tug. In return, he gets a questioning glance.

He nods towards the crash site, his curiosity getting the better of him. MJ frowns for a moment, but then she nods as well, obviously just as curious.

They let go of each other while they head in the hallway. The walls are blackened, the smell of ash all around them. Behind them, Harry is complaining about losing all the stuff he just bought for his departure tomorrow.

The sound is getting duller the closer they get to the site. There’s still some smoke, a few sparks from electricity cables that got destroyed along the way. The room where they’d just been sitting is now looking nothing like it did before. Peter mourns a bit for the Nintendo-system. Sam and Clint have now lost all their gaming-progress. That sucks…

“What’s that?” MJ asks all of the sudden. Peter looks to where she’s pointing, finding something… black? In the crater, it’s lying there. Looking like some sort of black goo perhaps? Peter’s about to get down and check it out.

“Peter? Get back here!” Tony shouts behind him, sounding angry. Peter jumps in surprise, and so does MJ. They see Tony nearing them with his mask lowered. “Are you two crazy? You can’t be here!”

“But, Dad! There’s this black goo there,” Peter says, pointing towards the crater behind him. Tony looks at him for a quiet second before gazing to what’s there behind him.

“What black goo?” he asks. Peter turns back to see inside the crater, finding that it’s indeed missing. Where it had been lying before, now lies only debris and destroyed floor. That’s… weird?

“But it was just there?” MJ mutters out, sounding just as surprised as Peter feels.

“You must have imagined it with all the smoke. Come, let’s get you home.”

MJ and Peter follow Tony back outside. After that, they wait for Happy to arrive and bring Ned and MJ back to their houses. Tony drives Harry and Peter back to the tower, where he allows a now-informed Bruce to look after his cuts and scrapes.

Peter’s backpack is thrown in his bedroom where two male adults are sleeping in his bed. He doesn’t stay there long. That’s why he doesn’t notice the black goo, that had attached itself on the underside of the bag, creeping inside.

 

* * *

 

 

Peter would never have thought to get the chance to see a hungover Steve Rogers.

He’s seated at the kitchen island with a French plate of breakfast and a steaming cup of coffee in front of him, his head resting in his hands with loud sighs escaping every few times, not even looking up when Peter and Harry walk in to the penthouse, having slept in an empty room a few floors underneath this one.

“Heya sports, did you all sleep well?” Tony asks once he notices the two boys arriving. He’s got an amused smile on his face while he closes the refrigerator, holding a milk carton in his hands.

“It was alright, the cuts itch a bit,” Peter says with a shrug. Harry doesn’t say anything, instead just heading to the coffee machine and filling himself a cup. Tony drops the carton on the table to hurry towards his son, immediately grabbing his arm.

“Let me take a look,” he says. Peter pulls away with a chuckle.

“I’m fine, dad, quit worrying,” Peter assures him, then nodding towards Steve. “Is he alright?”

Tony turns to look at the man on the counter, who is now resting his head down and poking his finger in his glass.

“Yeah, it was a bit of a tough night for him,” Tony jokes, but Peter catches something in his voice. He sounds off, a bit distant. Please, don’t say there’s something wrong between them, again? “Painkiller’s not working, so he’ll have to fight this one off the hard way.”

Peter snorts. “Sucks.” He takes place at the counter next to Steve, giving him a gentle tap on the shoulder. “Chin up, Steve. It’ll be over in no time.”

Steve just grunts without raising his head. Harry finally has his coffee and takes a seat as well, grinning widely upon seeing Captain America in this situation.

“So, Mr. Stark, are you going to have the crash-site analyzed?” Harry asks while he takes a knife in his hands to prepare his breakfast. Tony takes place next to Steve, putting a comforting hand on his back.

“SHIELD and my guys are already on it. The site is off-limits, though,” Tony explains.

“Wha’ happ’nd?” Steve asks in his arm. Tony pats him on the back.

“Don’t worry sweetheart, Bruce and I have everything under control,” he assures him.

“Wa’ an’body hurt?” Steve continues. He finally lifts his head but keeps his eyes closed, instead looking to where he thinks Tony is seated.

“Just Wade,” Peter tells him. Steve turns his head then to him. “Though nothing really can kill him so I’m sure he’s about ready to jump happily in a flowery meadow any moment now.”

“Right,” Steve sighs, putting his hand on his forehead. “God, I’m so useless, it’s so embarrassing.”

“You’re gonna be even more embarrassed once I show you footage of what happened yesterday,” Tony teases. Steve looks up in surprise, eyes actually opening wide.

“No way,” he mutters out. “You wouldn’t.”

“You know I definitely would,” Tony adds. “Right, Peter?”

Peter nods, lifting his mug and drinking from his coffee. “Yup, he would.”

“I will withhold sex if you don’t delete that footage right now,” Steve warns him. Peter scrunches his face together, though Harry watches it happen in fascination.

“You guys really do that, don’t you? Using sex as leverage?” he asks playfully. Steve’s cheeks then turn red, even more embarrassed than earlier. “Peter, your dads are adorable.”

“Urgh, you try living with them, then.” Peter shakes his head, pretending not to see the two men anymore and instead focusing on his breakfast instead.

“Seriously, Tony, delete it now!”

“No!”

“I’m serious about what I said.”

“You won’t hold out for long without it.”

“Don’t count on it.”

Peter only looks back up when the two have walked away from the kitchenette. Once their voices have completely disappeared, he lets out a relieved sigh.

“Dude, is it always like this?” Harry asks while laughing, nibbling on his bread. Peter rolls his eyes.

“You have no idea! I’m _so_ glad the walls are soundproof, too, otherwise I would never get a night’s sleep when I’m here,” he complains. When a door in the hallway opens up again, Peter looks behind him in surprise. Has Tony _actually_ given in?

Oh, no. It’s just Clint and Sam, both of them looking even ten times more horrible than Steve does. Clint is scratching his hair in confusion while Sam plants his shoulder against the wall and drags it from there.

“Good morning, sleepyheads. My bed comfortable enough?” Peter asks, lifting his cup of coffee. Clint looks up, blinking a few times towards Peter before frowning.

“What are _you_ doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be recovering from your party at the facility?”

Peter and Harry give each other a look, figuring that they couldn’t know, of course.

“Nah, a meteor flew from the sky and blew the building up,” Harry says shortly. Sam loses his balance and drops down on the ground, while Clint almost jumps up in the air.

“ _What_?!” he asks in a shout. “Why did nobody tell us?”

“Because we were drunk off our asses, idiot,” Sam mumbles while getting back up. “What’s the damage?”

“Eh, it’s not the worst, but it needs some fixing-up before you can go live in it again,” Peter admits. “But it’s okay, Dad’s freeing up a few floors for you guys.”

“Ah, well,” Clint mutters, sitting down on the seat where Steve had been earlier. “I didn’t really hate living in the tower. I don’t mind being here all that much.” He shrugs, turning towards Sam who shrugs as well.

“Whatever, I’m adaptable,” he says. “Which floor is mine?”

Peter snorts. “I think you misunderstood. Just because he’s clearing up floors, doesn’t mean you each get one. They’re big floors, after all.”

“Okay, uh, I don’t mind sharing. I’m sure Nat won’t mind, either.” Clint reaches for the cornflakes. Harry pushes it his way.

“Nat’s with Barnes, remember?” Sam adds. Clint then groans.

“Fuck me, who’s left?”

Everybody takes a moment to think about that. Bruce has his floor under the penthouse. The top three floors are actually smaller than the ones underneath, which is why Tony, Bruce and Nat (and Bucky) each get their own. From then on out, it’s two per floor. And Peter would just imagine Wanda would rather share with Yaël (she’s obviously too young to be rooming with Vision).

Of course, that is _if_ Yaël would come and take place at the tower. There’s the baby to think about, and while it’s a cute little thing, nobody really other than Wanda wants to spend _too_ much time with Loki’s off-spring, thank you very much!

Harry and Hilde are heading out, Scott and Hope have their little apartment. There’s not much left to choose from, after all.

Giving the two of them a knowing look, Sam and Clint turn to each other and then groan.

“You’ve got to be shitting me,” Clint complains.

“Exactly my thoughts,” Sam adds.

“Well, that wasn’t what you two were saying yesterday before ending up in a lip-lock,” Tony suddenly interrupts. Everybody watches the man enter the penthouse again, his hands in his pockets and a wicked grin on his face. Steve’s not behind him, so Peter only figures he’s back in bed.

“They WHAT?!” Harry and Peter shout out.

“We WHAT?!” Sam and Clint copy.

“I mean, I have the proof if you want to see it?”

And that morning, Peter and Harry both laughed their asses off when Tony showed them the footage of everything that happened last night, including the heavy, drunken make-out session that happened between the two birds in the Avengers-team.

 

* * *

 

 

Tony finds himself staring at the rubble that was one the compound that took so long to build.

There’s no more smoke, just ashes on the ground. Now that the sun is shining, it’s even more clear how the once white walls are now blackened.

The rooms are pretty much alright. A few of Clint and Wanda’s possessions might have been destroyed, but all the other stuff can easily be moved back to the tower. The moving people are already on it, just like FRIDAY and Peter are already busy with bringing everybody to their respective floors. Tony just sighs, kicking away a small stone on the ground.

He notices Fury almost immediately. After a while, it’s become some sort of hidden talent of his; to know whenever the guy is suddenly going to appear.

Okay, no, that’s a lie. The asshole just creeps up on him all the time and Tony hates it.

“Your peeps found anything yet?” he asks when he’s fully aware of the man standing next to him. Fury just breathes without saying anything, his hands behind his back and his eyepatch back in place. A couple of the New SHIELD-agents are filling up the place with their machines.

“There’s some readings we need to analyze,” Fury says, nodding towards Sharon once she passes them by. She gives Tony a smile and waves at him. Tony waves back, forcing the corners of his lips up as well but not feeling the joy exactly.

“You think anything came with it?” Tony tries.

“I sure do hope not. We don’t need another alien invasion after that last drama,” Fury says. Tony shivers upon the mention of the _Infinity War_ , as they’ve come to call it. He hates the name, hates even the simplest mention if the Infinity Stones. Except for the Time Stone. That one’s good. Long live the Time Gem.

“Can’t say I didn’t see it coming, though,” Tony adds.

“Stark-“ Fury starts, but Tony holds up his hand.

“Spare me. I hate saying this, but I think you might have been the only one to agree with me about it all,” Tony admits. He pulls off his sunglasses and crosses his arms together to look at Fury, finding one serious, dark eye looking back at him. “Why _did_ you come back, Nick?”

Even Tony is surprised about the way he addresses him. Fury doesn’t seem so phased, instead sighing.

“My agents are missing,” he admits. “Coulson and his team, they’ve been AWOL for a few months now.”

“Right, Coulson,” Tony mumbles. He shouldn’t be too surprised that he’s not dead, he supposes? Not that Tony’s not glad, but the fact that he’s been a live and hasn’t contacted Pepper since then…? She’ll feel angry the moment she hears it.

“Frankly, Stark, I’m surprised you called us for this. I thought you’d want your people to look at this place. And with that I mean you and Bruce.”

Tony snorts a bit. “Yeah, well… I was… discontent when the Avengers were back together and I gave myself a time-out. But, after Thanos… the things that have happened back there… Slowly I’d rather have nothing to do with it anymore, really.”

Fury raises his brow. “I’m surprised.”

“You know what we had to do. And we kept him safe, but now he wants to get himself in trouble again and again.”

“You mean your boy?” Fury asks. Tony doesn’t react to it.

“He wants to join the Avengers again. But last time I let him, he ended up getting his neck snapped,” Tony blurts out. He stops talking and takes a few deep breaths while he tries to control the stinging in his eyes. “Anyway, I know I can’t entirely leave the Avengers behind me. I’m part of the team again. But I can do my damnest to keep my son out of it all.”

“You know that might not be possible.”

Tony takes a few seconds of silence. A few scientists pass them by with their small monitors in their arms. A few people in scrubs and isolation-masks approach the crash-site again. As they perform their inspection, Tony turns around, slapping Fury gently on the back.

“If you look for us, we’re in the tower.”

After that, he starts walking off, a heavy feeling in his gut and a sharp eye looking at his retreating back. Tony hides away in the car. He doesn’t want to return to the tower, but also doesn’t know where-else he could possibly get to. Rhodey’s only coming back in two days, and he’s not really _that_ friendly with Lang and Van Dyne to randomly appear at their doorsteps.

But in the tower there’s Steve. And Peter. And all the other Avengers. And, right now, he doesn’t think he can handle them. Steve because of his damn confession yesterday. Peter because of everything that happened to him. The Avengers are just too… loud. He doesn’t want to deal with this right now.

“FRI, what hour is my appointment?” Tony asks, still postponing on starting the car. He looks up at the blue sky, remembering when it was red and bleeding. But, it could also have been his imagination. How could nature adapt itself to war like that?

“ _It’s in an hour_ ,” FRIDAY reveals. Tony sighs, looking down at his cellphone and finding that he has no messages. Nobody should be missing him already; Steve is probably back asleep, and Peter is helping the other guys.

“Call her up. Maybe I can come by a bit earlier,” Tony mutters. He starts up the car at last, turning the wheel while hitting the accelerator and moving forward. In his rear window he can see Fury look as jhe drives off.

“ _Calling_.”

Once the trees are surrounding him, the light of the sun disappears for a bit. The few stripes that do penetrate through the leaves come and go on his hands. Other than that, it seems like he’s surrounded by shadows.

He doesn’t let it get to him. Because there’s nobody in these woods; he has alarm systems almost everywhere.

But, then why didn’t it work with the meteor? He should have been warned about that beforehand, shouldn’t he?

“ _Tony?”_

“Hey doc,” Tony starts, ignoring the slight shudder in his voice. He clears his throat, stops the car and rubs his eyes. “I, uh, I was wondering if you were seeing anybody right now?”

“ _Well, the guy before you cancelled due to a funeral, so I’m free for the hour. You wanna come earlier?”_

Right now, Tony is taking deep breaths to keep himself from crying spontaneously. He doesn’t even know what’s wrong, he’s just feeling so… down. And it happens, sometimes. It’s not like the antidepressants just fix everything and make him super happy all the time. And so far, he’s managed to shield it away from Steve. But right now… it’s just as if it’s all just too much at the same time.

“Yeah, uh, that would be nice,” Tony says with a shivering voice. Dr. Wynedell is quiet for a few seconds before speaking again.

“ _You’re not feeling too well, are you?”_

“I’m managing,” Tony lies through gritted teeth.

“ _You don’t have to pretend, Tony. Just come over, I’ll be waiting.”_

After that, she hangs up and Tony lets out a long breath. She’s right, though. He starts up the engine again and moves the car up on the road.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter warnings:  
> \- Violence (just the usual monster-fighting)  
> \- Over-protective parents and a rebellious son  
> \- not much else

“I said it before, and I’ll say it again; this apartment is just awesome!”

Peter laughs when Johnny throws himself down on the couch after dropping his box on the table. The front door is still open, allowing for the others to come inside and carry more stuff Peter brought along.

“It is, so get your ass in gear so we’ll make it even more awesome, hothead,” Peter jokes with a wide grin. Johnny rolls his eyes, looking sadly at the remote control that is already in his hands.

“Let me at least turn on the TV, get the music channel up or something?” Johnny tries the moment Steve enters the living room with a heavy box in each arm.

“Oh, mind putting on some swing music? Tony and I have been working on our moves,” he jokes. Peter groans in frustration, deciding to just carry his box to his bedroom before Steve can say anything more. He’s not too surprised when Johnny puts on the music Steve asked for.

His phone buzzes in his pants. He quickly dives into his pocket, finding that he has a message from Harry

  * _Landed safely on the first stop! One more short flight to go now!_



Peter smiles before wishing Harry good luck. They dropped him off very early in the morning, and he’s been on the way for almost ten hours already. Peter’s still a bit sad that he’s gone for such a long time, but he believes that travelling will really help the guy.

“Petey, where do you want me to put your trumpet?”

Peter blinks a few times, turning around to see his Dad standing there with the case.

“I didn’t ask to bring my trumpet along?” Peter wonders out loud. Tony just shrugs at that.

“May gave it to me before I got into the car,” he says. Peter rolls his eyes again and points on the bed. Then he opens his first box and starts unpacking his clothes. Looking into his closet, he finds that he still has a lot of space left in there. He should probably buy some more stuff one day.

Tony is still in the bedroom, with his hands on his hips and his head turning to each wall as he inspects everything. Peter is all too aware of him.

“Something the matter, dad?” Peter asks without turning. Tony sighs a bit.

“It’s a nice room,” he says. “But are you sure you’ll be fine?”

Peter looks up into the ceiling, keeping himself from sighing as well. He’s been over this a million times already, and he’s a bit tired of having to repeat it all the time.

“Yes, dad, I’ll be fine. You know the building is not too far from yours, and I know I can call you whenever something’s wrong,” Peter states. He puts his clothes down and finally faces his father, who has his hands in his pockets and his sunglasses on. Right, because whenever Tony is wearing his sunglasses, he’s actually wearing a mask.

Peter walks up to him, reaches up for the glasses and pulls them away from Tony’s face, seeing the nervous eyes underneath them.

“Please, believe me when I say that I’ll be alright. There’s two super-powered people underneath this roof, both with superhero-families. We’re far from danger.”

Peter throws the sunglasses on his bed and reaches out for Tony, giving him a short, reassuring hug. He doesn’t expect Tony to just grab on to him and not letting go. Peter chuckles hesitantly, gently patting his father on the back.

“Uh, you can let me go now, Dad,” Peter mutters out. Tony doesn’t react. Not even when another pair of footsteps comes up behind him. Peter blinks a few times when he sees Steve enter, but where he would expect Steve to tell Tony to let him go, instead the super soldier comes up and pulls both Peter and Tony into his arms as well.

“Oh, I’m going to miss this,” Steve mutters.

“C’mon, stop acting as if I’m going away forever! I’ll be there every two weekends!” Peter counters.

“You say that now. Wait until you get into the college life, Mr. Parker,” Steve responds to that, and Peter honestly has nothing to say to that. He’ll try not to let college make him forget about his family, he supposes?

“Hey, guys, there’s a pretty girl at the front door who would like to see Peter?” Johnny suddenly comes up, knocking on Peter’s bedroom door. The two men finally let go of Peter at last, and after a short squeeze of Peter’s shoulder, Tony walks off. Steve frowns, going after Tony almost immediately.

Instead, MJ finally arrives into his new bedroom, her camera in her hand and her hair put up into a messy bun. She’s wearing that green jacket Peter likes a lot, and underneath it a white shirt with the mask of Spider-Man on it.

“I like your style,” Peter jokes, pointing towards the shirt. MJ looks down, smirking after that.

“Oh, this old thing? I got it at the school fair after graduation,” she returns with a wink. Then she holds up her camera. “There’s nothing better than to take before and after pictures of the room, don’t you think?”

Peter smiles at her. “I thought photography was my thing?” he asks.

“There’s no crime in having a mutual hobby, don’t you think?”

Peter bites his lip, realizing MJ is starting to walk up to him. “No, there isn’t,” he says weakly. When she’s standing right in front of him, she pulls up her polaroid and snaps a shot of him without warning him. After that, she starts laughing, taking a few steps back.

“Hah! I got you there, Parker,” she says, pulling out the picture that came out of it and waving it around a bit. Peter laughs, grabbing for her arm and pulling her closer to him. Where does this even come from? He’s surprised of himself, here.

“You know shaking the picture doesn’t do anything, right?” he says in a whisper, his face close to hers. MJ has her eyes half-shut, and her mouth put up into a smile.

“Maybe, but I like doing it,” she returns. After that, she drops the picture and puts a hand on Peter’s cheek instead. “You’re such a goof.”

They both lean forward after that, lips almost touching, when suddenly a loud crash comes up in another room. The two pull apart in surprise, looking at the closed door and almost expecting somebody to come running in.

“ _My bad!”_ Johnny shouts from the living room. Peter chuckles after that and MJ shakes her head in amusement. Then she holds up her camera once more.

“One more? Before I head out,” she tries. Peter nods, taking the box off his bed and sitting down. MJ joins up, pushing him until he’s lying on his back. Then she joins him, holding the camera above their heads and snapping a picture. She takes it out, shakes it two times before putting it on the night stand.

Peter gets up again, reaching out for it. MJ stops it.

“Na-ah, you wait until this evening, okay? And then you hold on to that picture for me.”

It’s not even a question. Shit, Peter is so deep into this already.

“I promise,” he says. MJ smiles again, leaning forward to press a kiss against his cheek. After that, she leans down and takes the first picture she took of him.

“I’ll take this one, then,” she says with a wink. “Now, let me make my ‘before’ picture before I have to go.”

“Where are you going?” Peter asks, posing the way she wants him to pose and waiting for her to snap the picture. His eyes are showing spots after the shot is taken.

“Just going to do some light protesting on animal cruelty. You should join me when you’re finished here?” she tries. Peter laughs, remembering the last time she took him protesting. He ended up with a black eye after a drunk dude accidentally mistook him for somebody else. His dad had been furious and got so close to suing the guy’s ass!

“I can’t wait,” he says after that. MJ smiles after that, looking down at the picture of Peter she took the first time.

“I’ll see you then,” she says, looking at him as she kisses the picture. Then she winks, walking out of the room and leaving Peter in here alone with his thoughts.

And that’s probably not what Peter needs, because he finds himself grinning widely, pressing his hands against his eyes and dropping himself back down on the bed. Who would have thought this would ever happen? He can’t even remember when he started to _like_ MJ, it was just all so… sudden!

One instant she was still with Harry, the next she was admitting to Spider-Man that he’d been the reason why she broke it off in the first place. And then there’s Harry who has been nothing but supportive about it.

He looks to the side, trying to catch a glimpse of the picture that is now lying upside down. He wants to reach for it, but he doesn’t. She wants him to wait until this evening, and he’ll do damn well what she asks!

“Yo, lover-boy, you ever going to help?” Johnny suddenly asks while knocking on the door. Peter looks up, jumping out of the bed and almost literally running to the door.

“Right! Let’s finish up here!”

“So, what, you two together now?” Johnny continues with the widest smirk on his face. Peter just slaps him on the arm.

“No, now let’s get the rest of our stuff!”

That evening, once they’re finished, Peter finds himself at the place MJ texted him. And he finds her immediately, holding out a speech for her fellow protestors. And Peter takes his camera, and this time takes a shot from her. The picture doesn’t come out like it does with her camera, but he plans to hold on to it either way.

 

* * *

 

 

Tony Stark feels the wall before he can see it.

But on the other hand, it’s not like he can see much. Not even ten seconds ago his helmet has been crushed by whatever their monster of the week is, before being thrown away like he’s nothing more than a doll a child doesn’t want to play with anymore.

So, his vision is black when he flies in the air (without actually flying), and it’s black when he lands on the ground with a loud ‘oof’, pain in his back and feeling as if there’s something poking him in the leg. He grunts, feeling like he can’t breathe at all.

“Iron Man!” somebody shouts, but it’s from afar. His communication-devices are all destroyed. He can’t talk to the others. The Arc Reactor is powered down, the suit is useless. Tony tries to roll onto his back, but even that hurts.

With lots of effort, he manages to pull his mask away from his face. Breathing still hurts, but it’s better than suffocating inside that metal cage. He needs to get out of the full suit. But that would mean he’d have to reach for the emergency lever, and he doesn’t think he can do that right now.

And the day started out pretty good, too. Tony remembers waking up in the morning, finding the sunlight shining on Steve’s face, seeing the man sleeping in for once in a while. It’s rare that Tony’s up earlier than he is, but Tony kind of likes it. He had reached out his hand, put it on Steve’s cheek, and watched and waited until he woke up.

He’d been feeling alright in the morning. Now it’s noon, and he’s feeling about ready to lock himself back up in the workshop and not leave for the following week. Firstly, it’s been Peter’s first night at his apartment with Storm. Secondly, his mind is still full with _all_ the things he discussed with Dr. Wynedell two days earlier.

“Stark, are you still with us?”

Tony opens his eyes again despite the ache that comes with it and finds Brunnhilde standing there with her hands on her hips, looking down unimpressed.

“I’m alright, just need a breather,” Tony explains. Hilde lifts up a hand towards her ear.

“He’s alive, but I think he’s out for this fight.” Her eyes never leave Tony’s, and for a short second Tony is glad that she’s not yet left for New Asgard. “Alright, I’ll tell him.”

Tony blinks a few times, waiting for whatever orders he’s getting through her.

“The Captain is on his way,” she says. “In the meantime, can I help you out of this suit?”

Tony nods, trying to sit up a bit. “There’s, uh, the emergency lever to manually override the suit. I can’t…”

“Let me do it,” Hilde says, kneeling down and reaching for the lever on Tony’s neck.

“You need to push it, then pull it down before pulling it up,” he explains. Hilde hums in understanding, and when she does it, Tony lets out another relieved breath as the suit opens up around him. The late-summer air hitting him at last, Tony rolls out of the suit despite how much it hurts his leg.

“That doesn’t look good,” Hilde suddenly states, pointing towards the hurting limb. Tony looks down, finding that his pants are ripped and there’s a large bloody spot hiding away what must be an injury.

“Oh great, now I’m gonna hear it again,” Tony groans. Before he can stop her, Hilde’s already reaching for her comm-link to pass along the news. She turns away from Tony as she speaks, so he can’t warn her not to do it. Instead, he throws himself back until he’s leaning against the wall. When he puts his head against the stone, it stings as well. Feeling through his hair, he notices that it’s wet. Blood. Great.

“Tony!”

“Here we go,” he mutters to himself, looking up and giving Steve an exaggerated smile. “Hi honey, how are you doing?”

“Cut the crap, Tony, how bad is it?” Steve asks, throwing his own helmet on the ground next to Tony, along with his shield. When he’s kneeling down as well, he takes Tony’s face into his hands to inspect him. “Can you see me clearly?”

Tony rolls his eyes. “Of course I can,” he objects. “Listen, this is nothing we can’t fix at home. I have a first-aid-kit back in the worksh-“

“No way, we’re taking you to medical!” Steve objects. “You know you need to have pictures taken!”

“Seriously?”

“You know you don’t heal as fast as I do! You could have ruptured something! I knew you shouldn’t have joined on this mission; you’ve been distracted all week, Tony! What’s going on with you?”

Images flash in front of Tony; countless dead bodies. Blood. Slaughtered people with limbs thrown all over the place. Peter’s lifeless body falling down on the ground…

Tony blinks a few times, unable to come back with _anything_. The lack of retort seems to surprise even Steve, who waits for anything to come out of Tony’s mouth.

“Tony, are you still with me?” Steve asks after a few long seconds. But even when Tony opens up his mouth to confirm his question, nothing comes out. Steve’s voice sounds weird, as if it’s distant. The other noises around him start getting louder. His eyes sting, his chest hurts. He sees Peter fall down again, unmoving…

Seriously, this is not the time for this!

Tony grabs on to Steve’s suit, putting his free hand on his sternum and rubbing the spot. While trying to even out his breaths, he’s aware of Steve throwing his arms around him and pulling him closer. It’s good, the feeling of tightness. Maybe he shouldn’t have gotten out of the suit; at least it kept him grounded, surrounded.

He still breathes heavily, eyes constantly squeezed shut as he tries to hold in the tears. He hates feeling like this. This shouldn’t happen anymore, yet it still does lately… Dr. Wynedell already had a blood sample taken to find out if there’s reasons as to why his medication seems to be failing lately.

Tony’s had panic attacks before, but usually he’s alone or only with Bruce. This is the first time Steve is here with him. He’d rather have spared him of this sight.

“S-S-Steve?” Tony shudders out, feeling the hold around him get even tighter.

“I’m here, Tony. I’m not letting you go until you’re ready,” Steve returns. Tony nods against Steve’s chest, feeling his breathing slowly even out again. Right when Tony’s about ready to tell him to pull away, another voice comes up.

“Guys! I’m finally here! You should have called me! Where can I help?”

Steve pulls away after Tony starts pushing against his chest. Opening his eyes again, Tony finds Peter standing there, completely in his suit and ready for the battle. He looks eager, active… Alive…

“You can help by getting your ass back home, young man!” Tony shouts at him before realizing it. Peter throws his hands up in the air.

“C’mon! I can handle this, guys! Besides, you’re already two men short now! Just let me help,” Peter pleads, putting his hands together as if he’s praying. Tony can’t see his face underneath the mask, but he can just as well imagine the expression he’s giving.

“Peter, listen to your dad. You’re staying out of this,” Steve suddenly intercepts, helping Tony out in his quest to keep Peter out of the fight.

“What? I would have thought you’d think about this rationally, Steve! You know what I can do!” Peter shouts angrily.

“I have given you an order, Spider-Man,” Captain America warns him. Peter drops his arms down, giving the two of them a long look before shaking his head.

“You know what, this is bullshit. I’m not officially a part of the Avengers yet, I don’t have to listen to you,” Peter suddenly says, leaving the two of them as he starts running towards the fight. Steve curses out, reaching up for his comm-link.

“Avengers! Spider-Man is on the scene ignoring direct orders. Get him out of there!” he warns the others. Whatever the Avengers are saying to that, Tony can’t hear it. All he can do is trying to keep an eye on the red-and-blue blur swinging his way towards the massive robot that is causing large destruction to the section of the city.

Steve doesn’t leave his side until Bruce arrives with the quinjet that will bring him back to the Tower. After that, he returns towards the fight, probably ready to give Peter a stern warning about his reckless behavior. Tony hopes it at least; he doesn’t feel like he’s ready to do it himself.

After Dr. Cho and her assistants manage to pull every bit of debris out of Tony’s leg and stitched him back up completely, he’s put into the medical room. Normally, he would escape and head back to the penthouse. This time, he just waits it out, too tired to even get up. He keeps the television up, follows on the entire mission behind the screen. And eventually it gets too much and he simply falls asleep through it all.

 

* * *

 

 

Peter knows he’s in trouble. To be honest, he doesn’t know what got to him, remembering mostly just anger and… some feeling of betrayal.

He knows he shouldn’t stay for the debriefing. The monster is down, the guy inside of it – Peter doesn’t stay to find out who it is – is taken away for questioning, and Peter swings out of the area, avoiding every member of the Avengers.

Steve’s angry. Everybody’s angry. More often than not they’ve yelled at him that he needed to get out of there, that he should listen to Steve or Tony. But Peter’s just tired of the way they’re treating him; like he can’t handle himself. He’s faced Thanos along with them! Why wouldn’t he be able to handle a stupid gigantic robot?

Swinging through the window of his apartment, Peter lands into the living room while pulling his mask off almost immediately. He’s aware Karen is trying to tell him that Steve is calling him. He doesn’t care, taking off the suit as quickly as he can.

“Dude, what happened to you?” Johnny asks. When Peter turns, he finds the boy seated on the couch, going through the channels with a bowl of popcorn on his lap.

“Don’t even ask,” Peter mutters, balling up the suit and throwing it into his backpack.

“Don’t say it has something to do with you battling that giant robot in the city?” Johnny asks, changing the channel back to the news where they’re doing a coverage on the battle. “I mean, it looked badass, but I also feel like you weren’t part of the team, you know?”

“That’s because I’m _not_ part of the team! They treat me like I’m just a child and I’m sick of it!” Peter complains angrily. He heads to his bedroom to grab a shirt and some loose pants before getting to the couch. “I mean, c’mon, after Thanos, one would think they would at least trust me with a stupid giant slow-ass robot, no?”

Throwing his legs over the side of the couch, Peter takes the remote in his hands and changes back to what seems like a stupid movie. He doesn’t care, as long as it’s not the news. He can hear his phone vibrating in his room, but he doesn’t bother to get up. Instead, he grabs a bit of popcorn out of Johnny’s bowl.

“You know what you need? Some distraction,” Johnny says with a grin. Peter rolls his eyes.

“C’mon Johnny, I don’t want to go to that stupid party,” Peter returns. “First day of school starts tomorrow and I need to be awake for it. Besides, you know I can’t drink!”

“But you don’t have to drink! Just be my wingman, okay? I saw this pretty girl on campus back when I went to get my schedule, and I overheard her saying to her best friend that she’ll be there. I would be _forever_ grateful if you would join me!”

Peter looks up at the ceiling, sighing but managing to smile anyway.

“Fine, whatever,” he says through his grin. “Just… don’t leave without telling me, alright?”

Johnny lets out a happy shout, throwing his hands up in the air before pulling Peter into a strong hug. Right after that, the door flies open and two people storm inside the living room.

“Peter Parker,” Natasha calls out, still wearing her uniform. She has her hands on her hips and a murderous look on her face. Peter’s breath gets stuck in his throat, and for a short second he fears for his life. Johnny, too, seems frozen in place.

The other person is Clint – of course it’s Clint. Though while he normally looks like he’s ready to start cracking a joke, right now he, too, looks absolutely serious.

“Uh, hi guys?” Peter tries when they’ve been standing there for ten seconds without saying anything.

“Your dad is in medical,” Clint says.

“And the team wants to talk to you,” Natasha adds.

“Dad is in medical? Is he okay?” Peter asks, surprised by the news. He hadn’t even noticed that Tony was injured! How much of a horrible son can he even be to have missed that?

“No, Peter! He’s hurt and they’ve performed surgery on him for the past hour. I’m sure he’s having the time of his life!” Clint throws at him. When Natasha gives him a stern look, he shuts his mouth and lets out a long breath.

“Dude, I think you should go with them,” Johnny tells him carefully. He’s right, of course, but that doesn’t mean that Peter is ready to have the lecture of a lifetime. Who knows, maybe they’ll take the suit again from him. It wouldn’t be the first time, after all… They can’t ground him since he lives in here, they can’t stop him being Spider-Man since he still has his old suit – however horrible it is.

They can’t stop him with anything.

Yet, Peter still doesn’t want to face their disappointment.

“Fine, I’ll come,” he says. He returns to his bedroom to put on some jeans. His suit, he purposely leaves in the living room, in the bag. If they don’t see it, maybe they won’t be inclined to take it again. So Peter leaves the apartment following Natasha and Clint. They’re here on their motorcycles, and when Clint hands him a helmet, Peter takes it without complaining. He puts it on, takes place behind Clint on the vehicle, and then they’re off to Stark Tower.

It’s about twenty minutes when they finally arrive, and Peter’s feeling stiff all over his body. They go through the private underground parking before heading to the elevator. Using their Avengers-badges, they get up to the medical floor, where, as soon as the doors open, Peter is faced with a whole hallway of nurses in gear.

Natasha and Clint exit the elevator, motioning for Peter to follow, which he does. Passing the rooms, he can see through the open doors that they’re helping out some of the victims of the battle. In one particular room, a doctor is stitching up Sam’s arm.

Suddenly, the two Avengers stop, pointing towards a room with a closed door. Peter doesn’t need them to tell him who’s inside. He nods, takes a deep breath, and opens up the door to walk in. All too aware of the heads turning his way, Peter is faced with all the other members of the Avengers staring at him. He feels small, like they’re all judging him. They did tell him to just go, to listen to Steve.

He didn’t listen.

“Uh, hi guys,” he mutters, instead turning towards the bed and finding Tony lying there, looking like he’s ready to fall asleep on the spot. Next to him stands Steve, still in his uniform. The two of them are the only ones not looking at Peter. That makes it even worse.

“C’mon, team. Let’s give them some time alone,” Bucky suddenly says, nodding towards the door. Simultaneously, everybody gets up on their feet and head towards the door. Only Wanda walks up to Peter and gently squeezes his shoulder.

“Good luck,” she whispers to him before she, too, is out of the room. She closes the door behind her, leaving Peter alone with Steve and his dad.

They don’t say anything. Tony just lets Steve take his hand and squeezes his fingers in affirmation. Steve closes his eyes, shaking his head. Are they having some conversation between the two of them but inside their minds? Peter can’t really follow.

“Dads, I’m- I’m sorry, okay?” Peter starts, walking up to the bed taking place on the chair that had previously been occupied by Bucky. “I just- I got angry and I behaved like a brat, and I shouldn’t have, I know that.”

Tony finally looks up to him, reaching out a hand and passing it through Peter’s hair. His eyes seem glassy, like he’s not completely awake from the anesthesia he’s probably been given.

“You’re not wounded, are you?” Tony asks with a raspy voice. Peter shakes his head.

“I’m fine,” he admits. “At the most, I have a small bruise here on my arm from when the eye of the robot flew off.”

He tries to joke. Nobody takes it.

“You’re taking my suit again, aren’t you?”

Tony chuckles, though it sounds forced. He turns his head back until he looks up at the ceiling. “No, I’m not. It’s not going to stop you, I already know that.”

Good, that’s good. Peter really doesn’t need another lecture like the last one. He’s still young, of course he’ll make mistakes!

“Peter, we need to talk about you being an Avenger…” Steve finally says without looking up. On Tony’s face, Peter can already see that it’s not going to be a pleasant conversation.

“Okay?” he starts. Steve lets out a loud breath before finally tilting his head up.

“I know, before all this Infinity War-business, we had agreed that we’ll be preparing you to become a part of the team. But, lately… Tony and I have come to the agreement that maybe you’re not ready yet.”

“What? Why not?” Peter interrupts. “If it’s because of what happened today, I swear it won’t happen again! I just… I got so angry but I understand now that I need to listen to you-“

“It’s not just that, Peter,” Tony stops him, sounding like he’s giving up his act of being alright. He looks miserable, ready to start crying or something like that.

“Then what is it?” Peter wants to know what suddenly made them all change their minds. If it’s not the thing that happened earlier, then what made them afraid to let him join.

“It doesn’t matter, _we_ just don’t want you to be an Avenger yet. Is it really so hard for you to understand, Peter?”

Peter leans back in his chair, his mouth fallen open in confusion.

“… you don’t _want_ me to join the Avengers…? Just like that? Just like parents don’t let their kids do drama or football because they don’t agree with it?” Peter huffs out a breath, unable to look Steve _or_ his dad in the eyes. The hypocrites… What bullshit is this, even?

“You know this doesn’t even come _close_ to any of that. We have our reasons not to want you to join yet. You need to trust our judgement, Peter. Trust us when we say we don’t refuse you for any stupid reason.”

Steve tries, oh, he tries so hard. Peter can only shake his head some more.

“You know what? Whatever… I can get more done alone anyway,” Peter mutters out, getting up from his seat and heading towards the door.

“Peter?” Tony asks, surprised by his sudden leaving.

“Get well soon. I’ll see you next weekend, probably,” Peter mutters out. Right when he heads for the doorknob, Steve’s voice fills the room again.

“You’re seriously going to walk off like that?”

Peter stands still, hand on the cold metal that opens the door, but not pulling it down yet. He waits.

“Peter, your _dad_ lies in a hospital bed, he just had surgery, had shrapnel taken out of his leg and had the back of his head stitched up. He has a concussion. You don’t really want to leave because of this, do you?”

Peter looks down, feeling heavy all the sudden. Then he sighs, lowering his hand and taking a step back from the door. Steve’s right; he’s behaving like a child again.

He doesn’t say anything. Instead, he gets back to his seat, shuffles it closer to Tony’s upper body, and then he rests his head on Tony’s shoulder. If there are tears in his eyes, they don’t need to know.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been slowing down on my writing lately. I really need to see Black Panther soon to get back into the hype, because we're getting dangerously close to the last chapter I've written (chapter 6!). But no worries, there's no way I'm dropping this story! :D  
> Anyway, chapter warnings:  
> \- Bullying (this story we're REALLY going to start working on Flash, be sure of that!)  
> \- Peter meeting new people  
> \- Not really any warnings at all  
> \- Maybe slightly scared Tony? But, I mean who would blame him?

Two years ago, Peter would never have thought he’d get here.

The campus is huge, making Peter feel like he’s going to be lost if he wanders here alone. The people around him all seem… huge. Not as in _fat_ or anything, but more… tall. Like they’re all older than he is. And that’s probably true, since he’s only eighteen. So far, he hasn’t found anybody that looks like they’re close to his age.

“Damn it, where’s Johnny?” Peter wonders. After yesterday, he arrived home and told Johnny he wouldn’t be joining him to the party. And Johnny had been disappointed a bit, but told him that he understood why. But, when in the morning Peter came to get Johnny, he wasn’t in bed.

Peter now starts to realize he might not have come home at all.

That manwhore.

Looking down at the papers he got when he signed up a few days back, he tries to put any meaning in the words. _Go to the main building_. That can’t be too hard, right? It’s probably the biggest building he’ll find here. Peter tightens the hold on his bag and starts walking towards the big building in front of him.

He can’t make two steps before there’s a chilling sensation going over him. Something is being thrown at him! Peter pulls his head back, and surely something comes flying right in front of him, missing him only by a few millimeters.

“Yo Parker!”

Oh, no. Please don’t say…

“Eugene, how about that? I didn’t know you’d go here?” Peter tries. He doesn’t want to make too much of a big deal about Flash. The past schoolyear had been kind of chill, what with Flash having gotten his warning from the school about his bullying behavior, close to being expelled. Now, though, there’s a clean slate, no strikes. If he wishes so, he could flush Peter’s face in the toilet and probably nobody would look up. There’s just too many students here.

“You need to tell me this, Parker; when I looked at the dormitories, I was happy. You want to know why?”

Peter shrugs. “I suppose you’re going to tell me anyway.”

Flash walks forward until he’s standing right in front of Peter, a nasty grin on his face.

“There I was, reading through every name, and nowhere on that list was that one stupid little name. And I thought; is this it? Is this the year I won’t have to keep on looking at Parker’s stupid face again?”

Peter rolls his eyes internally, instead biting his teeth together and holding himself in when he wants to ball his hands into tight fists. To be honest, after yesterday, he really doesn’t need this.

“Yet, here you are? Care to explain to me how you pulled off that trick?”

Peter shrugs again. “I’m renting a place not too far from here. It’s actually just a two minute walk, right next to this nice little coffee shop-“

He’s interrupted when he’s suddenly grabbed by the shirt and pulled up into the air. Then Flash moves forward until Peter’s back is against the wall. Great, this is exactly what Peter wanted to avoid.

“You’re telling me that _you_ , the poor Peter Parker who can’t even afford new clothes, managed to get an apartment? You really think I’m believing you?” Flash hisses at him with dark eyes. Peter grabs on to Flash’ hands, trying to pry himself loose, but not trying too hard.

“What’s it to you?” Peter grits out with difficulty. Flash grins even wider, lifting Peter up higher than before and preparing his fist. Great, Peter really didn’t miss this. He’d thought the guy had changed somehow. Clearly, he was wrong.

“Hey, fuckface. Let go of him,” somebody suddenly says behind him. The hold on Peter’s shirt loosens a bit as Flash turns around. When Peter tries to catch a glimpse over Flash’ shoulder, he finds a young girl standing there. She looks slightly familiar. She has red, full lips that are put into a wide grin, and brown, neat hair with straight bangs that cover her forehead. Her eyes are playful, blue. She looks pale, but has reddened cheeks from her make-up.

She looks like she’s enjoying this already.

“What did you just call me?” Flash asks, a bit curious. The girl just snorts and puts her hands on her hips before walking forward.

“I think you heard what I said. Or are you hard of hearing? I mean, I could try shouting it if you want?”

Peter chuckles despite his position, liking this girl’s snark quite a lot already. Especially if it gets Flash speechless, she’s his second favorite girl right now. Of course, it goes without saying who comes first to Peter.

“Why do you care about this loser?” Flash then suddenly asks, sounding literally confused about her trying to meddle. The girl simply shrugs.

“I don’t, though now that you mention it, he _is_ kinda cute. Now are you going to let him go, or do you want a good kick in the nuts from a small and frail little girl who clearly seems like she can’t defend herself? Because I’ll do it. I mean, I’ll kick you in the nuts, obviously.”

Oh, she’s a rambler. Much like Peter. This could be fun.

“I don’t- I don’t hit girls,” Flash gets out. At least there _some_ form of humanity in there. 

“Good, good, then at least I’ll be safe. Now, let go of him and your balls will be saved, deal?”

Flash hesitates a bit longer, but eventually he lowers Peter to the ground completely. Then, he turns back to him, hissing in his face.

“You’re lucky this girl came to save your ass. Next time you’ll be less fortunate,” he mutters towards him. Peter rolls his eyes, throwing his hands up in surrender the moment Flash lets go of him.

“Whatever dude,” he mutters out. Flash storms passed them, picking up his ball and then getting to the building Peter was headed to. Peter clears his throat, trying to get his shirt straight again. Had this been before he got his powers, he would have been shaking on the spot. As it is, he’s not feeling anything.

“Are you alright, handsome?” the girl asks. Peter picks up his books and then comes back up, holding out his hand.

“Yeah, thanks! I’m Peter,” he says as an introduction. The girl gives the hand an amused look before taking it.

“I’m Felicia,” she returns. You look like you’re lost, do you need some directions?” She nods towards the map in Peter’s hand. Peter looks down, figuring that he might as well have her lead the way.

“Sure, that would be great,” he returns. Felicia smiles widely, showing bright and practically perfect teeth underneath those lips. Had Peter never met MJ in his life, he would probably have fallen head over heals for this girl. She’s kind of… perfect. “You’ve… been here a while?”

Felicia shrugs as she starts walking. Peter hurries after her, going the opposite direction of where he’d been intending to go.

“This is my second year here. The school’s pretty good, but I can’t wait to just… graduate,” she sighs. “I’m in the arts, what about you?”

“Biochemistry,” he says proudly. “Though I’ve taken a few classes for electrical engineering as well. I like to combine things.”

“Oh, so you’re one of those smart guys then? Pretty hot for a nerd, though,” she jokes. At least, Peter thinks she’s joking. He laughs it off, trying not to get too much into that flirting tone. “So what’s your deal, you got a girlfriend walking around here?”

Peter nods hesitantly. “Kind of? I mean, we’re not really together, but… almost? I don’t know, it’s a bit weird.”

“How so? You’re either together, or you aren’t. I don’t really think there’s an in-between unless you’re just friend with benefits?”

Peter’s cheeks redden at the idea of being _that_ with MJ. It sounds wrong in all the possible ways. Not that he can’t imagine never sleeping with MJ, but… she just… Peter’s never really made that big of a deal of sex. He’s only ever been with Gwen before, and then there was that slight slip-up after that party that nobody ever talks about. And sure, his previous medication used to keep him on some sort of constant edge that he’s managed to ignore for a long while.

He’s prevented from answering that when he sees somebody slumping up to him, looking miserable in all the possible ways. It’s quite an amusing sight.

“Hey, Johnny,” Peter greets his roommate, enjoying the guy’s misery a bit too much here.

“Shut up, asshole,” Johnny mutters towards him, giving Felicia a quick look before seemingly sobering up a little. “And hello to you.”

Felicia lifts up an eyebrow, but accepts the handshake, seeming amused as well.

“I’m this handsome devil’s roommate, we have a place not too far from here. You’re always welcome and all…”

“Johnny, can’t you just go five seconds without trying to ask out girls?” Peter returns in laughter. Johnny looks appalled at that suggestion.

“Peter, me not flirting is like you suddenly not caring about science anymore!”

“You two are quite funny,” Felicia adds. Then she puts a hand on Peter’s shoulder and points towards a building on their right. “You need to be there. But hurry up, I think the assembly is about to start. Good luck!”

“Thank you,” Peter says, gratefully. Johnny, too, nods at her.

“Maybe until next time?”

“Sure thing!”

After that, Felicia starts running off towards another building, moving in an elegant way that makes Peter wonders if she’s very agile. She certainly moves that way. Then he pokes Johnny in the side.

“You didn’t come home?”

“C’mon man, there was this really hot chick there, and we were just about to-“

“You know what? I don’t really want to know after all,” Peter interrupts him, nodding towards their main building. “C’mon, we’ll be late.”

“Fine.”

And the two boys start running.

 

* * *

 

 

Tony escapes from the medical floor exactly at noon, after they’ve served him his lunch. Tony finishes the plate, put it all down on the nightstand, and then takes his crutches and hurries into the hallway. The nurses are busy, there are no doctors, and there’s nobody there to stop him. He’s too good at his, anyway. The amount of times he’s escaped from medical in the past are countless.

Once he’s back in the penthouse, he gets himself in his bedroom. While he’s in his own home right now, he’d rather not keep walking around in this surgical apron. Throwing it on the ground, he gets to his closet and takes out some easy clothes that will not end up too tight around his wounded leg.

It hurts less than before, he has the limited serum inside of him to thank for that. But his healing abilities aren’t comparable to Steve’s at all. It goes slightly faster than a normal human’s would, but in Tony’s opinion he still heals slowly.

He keeps the crutches until he’s in the workshop. After that, he loses them, dropping them on the ground. He greets his three bots and Peter’s (which is probably only _slightly_ smarter than Dum-E), gives them their instructions, and then he sits down behind his crowded desk. Without any care in the world, he passes his arm over the surface and pushes everything to the side. There might be a glass that falls along with everything else, but Id-Jit and Butterfingers are already there to clean everything back up. Tony doesn’t pay too much attention to it, instead starting up his screen and waiting for his brain to jump into action.

“FRI, can you start up the files for Extremis?” Tony finds himself asking.

“ _That file is put up as extremely classified. Are you sure you want me to open this?”_ FRIDAY asks. Tony sighs, holding up his hand and making a gesture for her to hurry up.

“Just do it. I’m not planning to destroy the world with it,” he assures her.  

“ _Alright,”_ FRIDAY responds, but clearly not really warmed up to the idea. Tony likes that she cares so much, but right now Tony just needs to tinker a bit. So he comes up with the formulas in front of him, though he remembers them well enough from when he studied them to remove them from Pepper’s body. His memory has kept that information safe inside his brain.

“Okay what does this serum give us,” Tony mutters, pointing his finger to the holographic notebook on the screen. “First there’s the superhuman strength.”

Tony remembers all too well how that woman almost literally kicked his ass back at that café. Without his own armor to protect him, he’d been sure he was done for. Still, he can’t believe he actually made it out of that mess.

“Secondly there’s that superhuman stamina and speed,” he mumbles, leaning back in his seat and reaching for a pencil to bite on. While taking a deep breath, he thinks further. “Superhuman durability. I mean you could empty your gun in them and they would still stand, the idiots…”

Tony then throws his legs on the desk, accepting the smoothie U hands him. Trusting his bot (stupid decision) he takes a large gulp, making a disgusted face but deciding not to comment on it.

“Fire-breathing. Rhodey told me Killian pretended to be a dragon,” Tony recalls. On the notebook, the words come down as he tells them. “And then there’s that thermal regulation itself. They could just burn through anything.”

Id-Jit rolls up to Tony, holding up a framed picture that must have fallen along on the ground when he cleared the desk. He pulls his legs back, reaching for the frame and taking it from the bot’s simple claw. A short look at the picture of him and Peter in Disneyland makes something well up in his throat. It had been such a good day, the two of them careless and unknowing of everything that was waiting ahead of them.

Tony puts his fingers on the picture, wishing he could go back to those care-free days. Back when he hadn’t seen what he’s seen now. He takes a shaky breath, clearing his throat as he puts the picture back on the desk, turning towards Id-Jit and patting Peter’s bot on the ‘head’.

“Good boy,” he says, forcing up a small smile. He should continue. The sooner it’s finished the better he can make sure that something like the ‘infinity war’ doesn’t happen again. Or, if it does happen, that he’s at least not so easily taken out of commission.

The ultimate suit, the best of the best. That’s what he’s going to make here. And he _knows_ that Extremis could be the key in this, but not _this_ extremis. The fire-stuff, it helps with nothing. It’s what makes everything unstable. He needs to get rid of the fire, to find a way to make it something _useful_ , something that won’t cause any harm.

Something he would only use in case of an emergency.

So Tony quickly adds the ‘healing’ to the list before drawing a line underneath it and starting up the next list. “Now what do I want the new thing to be?”

And Tony brainstorms, listing up things that would be good to keep. The things that aren’t important, he crosses out. If anybody can find a way to remove the fire from the nano-technology, it’s Tony Stark, for crying out loud.

Just as he’s about finished with putting together a few requirements he has for the new… suit… FRIDAY’s voice comes up again, causing for Tony to jump up.

“ _Captain Rogers is on his way to the workshop_ ,” she calls out.

“Save everything under a new file. Call it ‘Bleeding Edge’,” he says, naming the first thing that comes to mind.

“ _Saved_ ,” FRIDAY states. Tony makes a movement with his hand to remove everything from the screen, and then pulls up the designs from the suit he’d been wearing during the fight with the giant-robot guy. Right in that instant, the door opens up, revealing a clearly-annoyed Steve Rogers.

“Anthony Edward Stark!” Steve calls out, giving Tony some shivers. He’s never used his full name before, it actually sounds weird coming from his mouth.

“Yes, dear?” Tony asks, giving Steve an innocent look. Steve walks up to where Tony is, suddenly pulling on the chair until it’s rolling backwards.

“You are supposed to be in bed,” Steve grits out, pulling the chair along behind him while Tony is still in there.

“Come on! I’m bored out of my mind in bed!” Tony complains, watching his bots hurry after him as they try to keep Tony inside. Though, by the time they’ve reached him, Steve has already closed the door between them.

“I don’t care, you are injured,” Steve counters. Getting to the elevator, Tony slumps into his chair, throwing his head back and looking at the ceiling above him.

“You do realize you left my crutches in the workshop?” Tony then asks with a raised eyebrow.

“I know,” Steve returns, suddenly giving him a small grin. “At least that way I’m sure you’re not going to run off again.”

Tony gives him a fake-shocked look, putting his hands against his cheeks. “No way! What if I have to go to the toilet?”

“I’ll carry you,” Steve adds, a bit playful.

“You are evil, you know that?”

“I might have been told that a few times.” Steve then carefully puts Tony down on the bed, giving him a small smile. That playfulness of before suddenly gone from his face, and instead some uncertainty taking its place. Before Steve can pull away, Tony reaches out for him, putting a hand on Steve’s cheek and looking him into his eyes.

“You do know I love you, right?” Tony suddenly feels the urge to say. Steve’s breath catches in his throat. Then he closes his eyes, leaning into Tony’s touch gratefully.

“And I love you, too,” Steve whispers to him. “I love you so, so much.” Tony pulls his hand away, instead opening up his arms as an indication for Steve to collect his hug. Steve kicks off his shoes, lowering himself down on the bed until he’s between Tony’s arms. Wrapping them around his partner, the two men close their eyes again, breathing in each other’s scent.

They stay in silence for a while, just enjoying their closeness, the touch. The feeling of each other. But after a while, Tony takes a deep breath, lifting up his head and opening his mouth.

“We’ve been feeling pretty crappy lately, haven’t we?” Tony asks, pulling away slightly so he can look at Steve, who still has his eyes closed but with a sad expression on his face as well. “Don’t you think we should… talk?”

Steve opens his eyes, giving Tony a small smile. Then he lifts up his hand, passing a finger over the side of Tony’s face, pushing a few strands of hair away from his path.

“We’ve never been good at talking, have we?” he states. Tony can’t help but agree with that.

“I know, but we have a deal, remember? We talk to each other, because we love each other.”

Steve sighs again, leaning his head down until it’s hidden against Tony’s chest. His hands come up to Tony’s hips, fingers slowly passing over his skin. It tickles a bit.

He knows what Steve is trying to do. He’s not against it, but he’s more… surprised. Carefully pulling Steve’s hand from his hip, he instead lifts his lover’s hand towards his mouth where he can kiss his fingers. Steve sighs against his chest.

“You need a distraction?” Tony wonders out loud. He feels Steve nod against him, appearing so miserable. Tony can’t deny him like that. “Okay, I’m yours to do as you please.”

He then feels Steve shake his head before the super-soldier pulls away again. Sharing a look, Steve takes a deep breath.

“You’re in charge today,” he instructs him. “I’ve been Captain America for the past three days, almost non-stop. I just… take the control from me, just for a little while.”

Tony smiles at him, crawling forward carefully without messing up his leg. Then he leans over Steve, their eyes never leaving. One practiced hand swiftly moves underneath Steve’s shirt, tracking every inch of skin he can find there. He kisses him after that, their lips meeting with equal enthusiasm. He can feel Steve’s breath against his cheeks, hears Steve’s heart beating now that he’s close enough and wondering if Steve can hear his as well.

Tony is careful, gentle, keeping an eye on Steve’s reaction to everything. He takes preparation well enough, takes every touch with as much enthusiasm as always. They feel each other, love each other, silently promise each other. Tony works steadily, reminding Steve every once in a while, with a soft whisper, how much he loves him. Steve constantly seems like he’s about to lose it. When Tony suggests to stop for a while, he refuses.

They go for a little while, but enough is enough. When Tony pulls away to drop down on his back and catch his breath, Steve, next to him, does the same thing. The super-soldier reaches out a hand, dropping it over Tony’s belly as if he needs that small bit of contact from him.

They’re sated, satisfied, full with that feeling of bliss and joy. But they’re not alright, and they don’t need an expert to see that.

Tony wonders just how long they can hold on before the dam will break again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Felicia is based on how she looked in the Amazing Spider-Man 2 (so, Felicity Jones, in short), though a few years younger. She's about a year older than Peter is! She is the same character as from the movie, meaning that she was Harry's sort of assistant for a short while (maybe an internship? Who knows?) Peter never met her so he doesn't recognize her


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 5! We're moving along, though the writing goes slow. It's a good thing the chapters are once a week instead of twice, otherwise I would have ran out of them already.  
> Went to see Black Panther at last! Lots of inspiration, now just to find a way to bring all the ideas in! 
> 
> chapter warnings:   
> \- Steve and Tony have a talk  
> \- Peter meets new people  
> \- That's about it. Enjoy!

Go to a party, Johnny said.

It’ll be fun, he said.

Peter has lost him about fifteen minutes ago, probably to some random girl he hopes will be his conquest of the evening. Johnny’s need to sleep with girls is so big, Peter for a moment wonders if he doesn’t just have this slightest addiction-problem to sex.

Partying is fun. Especially without the ability to drink any alcohol. It’s amazing to have all these drunk people around you, making out and rubbing against each other on stupid music he doesn’t even like. A few drunk girls even came hanging to his arm, begging for his attention. It was easy enough to chase them off with the ‘I’m taken’-excuse.

He sighs, looking around in search for _anybody_ who might look familiar to him. He texted MJ about ten minutes ago, but she’s not coming as she’s preparing another protest with a few of her… uh, not exactly friends since she doesn’t have that many? Fellow protestors, maybe?

When he spots Johnny at last, it’s completely by accident. The fact that the guy’s tongue is stuck down another girl’s throat gives Peter no reason at all to head towards him. He wishes only a little bit that he could go home, but he needs to make sure the hothead gets home this night, unlike last time.

Peter yawns, feeling like he’s about ready for bed. He hasn’t had any classes today, but mostly just introductions. There are a few students in his class that are nice enough, but he doesn’t know them all that well, yet. He spent lunch with Johnny and MJ, getting dirty looks from Flash. Felicia’s is a face he hasn’t spotted at all, but that’s okay. He’s sure he’ll run into her eventually. Maybe he should properly introduce her to Johnny. They could hang out.

Peter decides to bail for now. He’ll come back for Johnny, but he’s feeling like he’s wasting his time right here. He should instead just swing around town, see if he can be of use anywhere.

He hasn’t taken out his suit since the argument with Tony and Steve. Normally, after a fight, he hangs it out, or throws it in the laundry. This time, he hasn’t, meaning that the suit might just smell a little of oil and dirt.

“Yo Parker, where you goin’?” somebody asks behind him. Peter turns around, seeing another guy standing there. He doesn’t know his name, wondering how he even knows his in the first place.

“I need to make a call,” he lies, holding up his phone. “Don’t worry, I’m not leaving, I have to take that idiot home.”

He points towards Johnny, and the other guy follows his finger, suddenly making an understanding sound.

“Oooooh,” he says, sounding clearly drunk. “Good, don’t run off!”

After that, the guy leaves again, suddenly noticing somebody else behind Peter. After a snort and an eye-roll, Peter heads out with his bag over his shoulder. He steps a bit further away until he gets to a little alleyway. There, he quickly grabs his red-and-blue suit and changes clothes. Stuffing his normal wardrobe back into the bag, he hides the thing away _under_ the trash-container this time. After that, he pulls himself up into the air with a well-placed web.

It’s a calm evening for a change. With only a small mugging and another lost lady on his way, Peter finds the perfect opportunity to get himself a roof and just hang out for a bit. Taking an empty one with no possible visitors, he drops down on it and takes a few breaths.

He’s not on an extremely high building, so it’s not like he’s looking down at the city. But damn, the view is nice either way. Peter wishes he would have taken his camera along this time. He might have just gotten a few nice things tonight. For now, he has to do with the camera on his Stark-Phone. He takes it out of his inner pocket, and starts up the camera to make a few quick shots. After that, he opens up his messenger app, pulling off his mask and taking a picture of himself holding up his thumb.

  * _Heya Ned, hope you’re doing well there at MIT! I’m on patrol tonight, but it’s calm. Who would have thought that the most thrilling thing of my evening would be picking up Johnny from a party? Anyway, don’t be a stranger!_



Peter puts the phone aside again, pulling the mask back over his head and once again looking at the city.

“Karen?” he asks.

“ _Yes, Peter?”_ the AI asks in that usual friendly way of hers.

“Have you heard of anything happening in New York that might need my assistance?”

“ _So far nothing has come up through the police, but I can look out for something if you want?”_  

Peter sighs. “Nah, it’s alright. Say, K, do you know of any jokes?”

“ _Sure, Mr. Stark has installed multiple jokes onto my program. Do you wish to hear one?”_ Peter lies down on his back, looking up into the dark sky. The sad thing about New York is the lack of stars during the night.

“Sure, lay it on me!”

“ _What is the biggest pan in the world?”_

Peter pulls his eyebrows together, putting a finger against his chin as he tries to think. Biggest pan in the world? Is there even such a thing? Isn’t it just impractical to have a too big pan in the world?

“Uh, Pizza-pan?” he tries, not sure if that’s even a thing.

“ _No, it’s Japan,”_ Karen returns. Peter snorts, shaking his head at how stupid that one is. It’s actually such an obvious one he couldn’t even come up with it himself! He’s a disgrace for the Stark-lineage!

“Alright, now I’ll tell you one,” Peter returns. “How does a crazy person travel through the woods?”

Karen stays quiet for a moment. “ _By foot?”_

“They take the psychopath,” Peter returns, laughing up at his own joke. He slaps a hand on his belly and closes his eyes. Oh, he loves this one.  

“ _Oh, I get it. It’s a good one,”_ Karen says, sounding happy. Peter smiles proudly underneath the mask, deciding to sit up again. “ _Incoming call from Mr. Stark.”_

“Put him through,” Peter sighs, throwing his legs over the edge of the building and swinging them back and forth. Then he sees Tony’s face appear on his vision. “Heya dad.”

“ _Peter, you’re out on patrol?”_ Tony asks. Peter shrugs.

“Yeah, but it’s pretty quiet tonight. I’m actually just chilling on the roof, so not getting into any danger you know,” he assures him with a forced chuckle. He can see Tony roll his eyes at him.

“ _Sure, I believe you,”_ Tony laughs. “ _So how was the first day of school?_ ”

Ah, Peter smiles. He already did his story to May, but he doesn’t mind repeating it to Tony at all.

“It was alright! Johnny and I got lost on the way to the main building, but a girl pointed us the way. After that, it was mostly just introduction and a welcome-barbecue,” Peter explains.

“ _A barbecue? And I wasn’t invited?”_ Tony sounds literally shocked. In the background, Peter can hear Steve talking in return.

“ _You were supposed to remain in medical, so of course nobody invited you,”_ Steve mutters. Tony turns the camera to somewhere on his left, revealing Steve lying down in the bed, on his stomach with his arms under his pillow. He looks tired, but he still manages to pull off a smile for Peter.

“Hey, Steve!” Peter greets him. “You sleep enough? You look tired?”

“ _Ugh, been on clean-up duty for that robot-thing all day. And then after that there was debriefing, interviews and all the usual crap,”_ Steve complains. “ _And you want to know the worst part? They never asked about the robots! They asked about you instead.”_

“Me as in Spider-Man? Or me as in the hidden child?” Peter wonders.

“ _The latter. They never mentioned Spider-Man at all,”_ Steve mumbles. Then the camera moves again until Tony is lying down next to Steve, the phone above their heads.

“ _Face it, Petey, you’re old news, but at the same time, you’re the biggest news in the world,”_ Tony jokes. Peter rolls his eyes.

“Yeah, no shit, if you slip out that small bit about having a teenager in the house. No wonder they’re trying to get some bit of information.”

“ _It was an accident, okay?_ ” Steve admits. Tony pats him gently on the shoulder, and Steve turns his face again until it’s pressed against the pillow.

“ _Anyway, we’re headed to bed, it’s been a long day. But if you come across anything big, don’t hesitate to call, alright?”_

Peter nods.

“Will do, good night, Dad. Good night, Steve.”

 _“Good night, son,”_ they say simultaneously. After that, the call ends. Peter closes his eyes, lying back down with a loud sigh.

They’re good at it; calling, pretending to be happy, like there’s nothing wrong at all. It’s frustrating in every possible way. Just the day before, he got scolded for ignoring Cap’s orders, got kicked off the team before he even got to be part of it. And yesterday he could bite through it and stay with his injured Dad. Now, being Spider-Man but without a mission, he feels angry.

He’s not going to take it out on them, of course. That won’t do anybody any good. But nonetheless, he feels restless, like he could just punch somebody in the face.

“Well, well, look what the cat dragged in,” a voice suddenly says from somewhere behind him. Peter jumps up, almost throwing himself over the edge with the sudden movement. Making a quick turn, he’s suddenly faced with a light-haired girl in a mask, wearing a leather suit that looks like the sexier-version of Widow’s uniform.

“Who are you?” Peter asks, keeping his hands up in a gesture that tells her she should keep her distance. It seems like it doesn’t stop her at all as she takes a few more steps forward. She has a big grin on her full lips, and her green eyes look playful. She looks vaguely familiar, but… Peter can’t just place where he must know her from.

“I would be insulted from your lack of knowledge, but it’s been my mission to stay in the shadows for a while now,” the girl says, scraping one gloved hand over the stone wall next to her. Her metal nails make a horrible sound in the process, causing for Peter to put his hands against his ears as he flinches.

“Then why come out now?” Peter then suddenly asks. The girl snorts and shakes her head, finally passing Peter by and taking place on the spot he was just seated on.

“Relax, sweet cheeks,” she says, looking out into the city. “I needed the view, is all.” Then she points towards a random building. “There’s were I need to be.”

Peter follows her finger but can’t really find anything that could distinguish the building from the others. Right when he’s about to ask what exactly the girl needs from there, she jumps over the edge of the building, falling down to the ground.

“What the-?” he starts, but right when he’s about to jump down himself to help her out, she skillfully grabs onto the ledge of another building and pushes herself forward. The movement, the certainty this girl is showing. It’s mind-blowing, Peter realizes. Before he knows it, he’s swinging after her.

She’s fast, and agile. When she notices Peter following her, she blows him a kiss and gives him a wink. Then she continues on without turning back, even as Peter slowly catches up to her.

“So, uh, who are you?” he asks nervously.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” she returns playfully, suddenly taking a turn to the left. Whatever she’s using to swing across the buildings, it’s amazing. As she throws it, it seems to attach itself onto the wall, and it lets go on itself. Peter really wants to look into that technology if he could.

She lands right on the roof of the building she’d been inspecting. Giving Peter a thumb’s up, he’s waiting for her to continue.

Taking a crouched position, the girl goes towards a roof-window and gives it a light tug. It doesn’t budge,  but that doesn’t seem to throw her off. Instead, she takes something out of her utility belt and places it on the window. Much to his surprise, he recognizes the technology the moment she activates it.

“Hey! Where did you get that?” he asks a bit loudly when, through the four pieces of the device, an opening appears that allows the girl to get through easily.

“Oh, after you got that Vulture-guy locked up, some of his tech stayed behind. I made sure it wouldn’t end up in the wrong hands, is all,” the girl says with a wiggle in her eyebrows. “Now be quiet or you’ll ruin the mission.”

“What mission?!”

“SHHH! Don’t make me kick your ass!” the girl warns him, pointing up a finger towards him. Then she lowers herself through the window, using her metal cord to get to the floor without any trouble. Peter jumps through the portal as well, then, landing with a soft thud and immediately looking around to see where the girl went to.

One look at the place, and Peter realizes he’s clearly somewhere he shouldn’t be.

“Karen, where exactly are we?” Peter asks.

“ _According to my data, you are currently in a building owned by Dr. Otto Octavius, a scientist on nuclear physics. He used to go to college with Dr. Curtis Connors and your father when he was younger. Mr. Stark and he worked together for about a year.”_

“Why did they stop?” Peter wonders out loud.

 _“Dr. Octavius had personal trouble that he needed to tend to, according to my records_.”

Peter hums in understanding, though still a bit curious. He knows about Dr. Octavius, of course. Ned once wrote a piece on him, and Peter had read through it to check for spelling-errors. He’s done some good work, but nothing really note-worthy that would get him in the papers.

Peter gets to what looks like a working desk. Gently, he picks up a few papers with notes on them, reading through the formulas and explanations of what seems to be Dr. Octavius’ latest project. In the corner of his eyes, he can read Oscorp’s name written on most of the papers, meaning that they must be sponsoring the man.

Then, a bit further on the desk, there’s a picture of a man around Tony’s age, holding a woman in his arms. He looks happy. They both do. Peter figures this must be Dr. Octavius and his wife. He lets out a soft breath, a bit confused as to what they’re doing here exactly.

“Girl?” he calls out, still unknowing of the girl’s name. Is she even still here? Or did she trick him into getting in here?

“Jackpot,” her voice calls out. Peter turns around and finds her kneeling in front of some sort of safe. One she somehow managed to open. Carefully, Peter walks up to her.

“What exactly are we doing here?” Peter asks. The girl’s green eyes suddenly turn towards him, her lips curling upwards.

“I’m making money,” she says proudly, picking up a box from somewhere on her left and pushing it in front of the safe. Then she carefully puts whatever’s inside into the box and seals it.

Standing up, the girl suddenly puts a hand on Peter’s cheek and suddenly kisses him on the lips. It’s a quick peck, almost as if it’s something they do all the time.

“I must be off now,” she says, pointing towards the box. “Be a dear and pick this up, will you?”

Peter frowns for a moment.

“What’s in there?” he asks, curiously.

“Something I need,” the girl returns. She crosses her arms together and gives him an unimpressed look.

“ _Inside is an element called tritium, which is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen. Its nucleus contains one proton and two neutrons. For it to naturally occur is extremely rare, but it can be produced by irradiating lithium metal in a nuclear reactor,”_ Karen explains almost as if Peter just randomly opened up Wikipedia.

“Okay, why are you stealing radioactive material,” Peter calls out, immediately alarmed after receiving Karen’s information. The girl gives him a confused look at that.

“How did you-?”

“Tell me!”

“How about you mind your business, pretty boy?”

“You stealing stuff is my business. Just as much as those stolen weapons that were supposed to be turned in to SHIELD,” Peter says while pointing towards her utility belt. The girl rolls her eyes.

“You know what? I’ll carry my own stuff,” the girl then says, throwing her grappling hook towards the box and pulling it up as if she’s wearing it like a backpack. Right when Peter moves up to stop her, her foot lands into his stomach, throwing him back into a blackboard. A few papers fall down to the ground.

“Hey!” he shouts. The girl is already back underneath the window.

“Until next time, Spider-Man,” the girl greets him with a wink, saluting him. “Oh, and the name’s Black Cat, in case you were wondering.”

After that, she jumps up. Right when Peter hurries to go after her, the portal disappears and instead Peter bumps right into what seems to be reinforced glass. Not wanting to trip any kind of alarm, he jumps back down, putting his hands on his hips.

“Huh, how about that?” he mutters to himself. “Karen, is there any other way out of here?”

“ _I am not seeing any form of security on the window above you, so it should be safe to just open it from the inside,”_ she returns. Peter rolls his eyes, jumping back up and carefully turning around the lock of the window.

Once he’s back on the roof of the building he sees that there’s no sign left of the girl. _Black Cat_ , he reminds himself. He curses to himself, smashing the window shut behind him. After that, he rolls his eyes and lets out another sigh.

“Karen, call my Dad, will you?”

 

* * *

 

 

Tony can’t sleep. His painkiller doesn’t seem to be working, and there are too many ideas going through his head. The only thing he wishes he could do is mess around some more in the workshop, continue on his project. But Steve left his stupid crutches behind, and Tony can’t stand on his stupid leg.

In his annoyance Tony turns to his side, looking at Steve’s peaceful face. Asleep, it’s hard to see how troubled the man must be. And still they haven’t talked this evening. Tony gave him the distraction he needed, but after that he was just too tired to do any form of discussion. So instead Tony called up Peter, forced Steve to speak up a little, too, and after that call Steve went to sleep.

That’s about an hour ago now, and even Steve’s calm, steady breathing doesn’t seem to help Tony fall into the same slumber. Letting out another sigh, Tony turns to get his tablet from the nightstand. If he can’t work in the workshop, he can put together some formulas back here.

But the moment he turns on the screen, Steve makes a complaining sound.

“Tony, go to sleep,” he mutters sleepily. So he must have been awake all along then, probably just trying as well. Tony rolls his eyes, putting the tablet back down and turning back onto his side to look at Steve. The super-soldier doesn’t open his eyes.

“I can’t,” Tony admits.

“Just try, dear,” Steve grumbles.

“I’ve been trying for an hour, babe! I’m too awake!”

Steve sighs, opening his eyes at last. “Have you been drinking coffee before bed?”

“No! Only this smoothie U gave me,” Tony counters. “Though it’s entirely possible he might have thrown something like an energy-drink inside of it.”

“Or maybe you’re just being worried about Peter,” Steve adds.

“Why would I-?”

“Admit it, Tony. You don’t like him patrolling in the evening.”

“Well, you don’t like it either!” Tony counters. Steve rolls his eyes.

“Of course I don’t. But I trust him to make the right decisions. Don’t you?”

Tony opens up his mouth to say something in return, but right after he’s taken his breath, FRIDAY’s voice interrupts him.

“ _Sir, there’s an incoming call from Peter,”_ she warns him. Tony jumps up, not too surprised when Steve does the same.

“Put him through!” he almost shouts, wondering if he should be getting dressed to help him out.

“ _Dad? Did I wake you?”_ Peter suddenly asks. He sounds out of breath, and maybe even a bit irritated.

“Not at all, what’s the problem?” Tony assures him.

“ _Well, uh, I met some girl just now. She was being mysterious so I followed her, but now she’s stolen some tritium from what looks like Dr. Octavius’ workplace, and the security was really bad in this place so it’s not really a surprise that she got it this easily, but still-“_

“Peter, stick to the important parts,” Tony interrupts.

“ _What, the tritium wasn’t important enough?”_ Peter counters in annoyance. Tony bites his lips together, getting a snort from Steve’s location. He gives him a poke in the side.

“Well, okay, the tritium is alarmingly enough. I’ll, uh… I’ll give Dr. Octavius a call. Can you maybe give me some description of what the girl looked like?”

“ _Yeah, she called herself Black Cat? Had a black leather suit with white furry parts on them, and then light blonde hair, almost white. Oh, and her eyes were crazy-green!”_

“Okay lover-boy, we’ll try and use that to track her down,” Tony deadpans.

“ _Oh, and one more thing; she had the Vulture’s weapons and gadgets. She used one of them to get inside the building.”_

Okay, that’s pretty alarming alright. Those weapons are really dangerous to fall into just anybody’s hands. He thought the new SHIELD had everything contained?

“Peter, what have you gotten yourself into this time?” Tony mumbles.

“ _Hey, this is not my fault!”_ Peter counters, clearly agitated about it. Steve puts a hand on Tony’s shoulder, but doesn’t say anything. He just gives him a long, calm look. Enough for Tony to know what he means.

“I know, son. Just… go home, please? I’ll look into this girl.”

 _“… fine,”_ Peter mutters, hanging up almost immediately afterwards. Tony pulls his hand towards his forehead, letting out another sigh while shaking his head.

“I hate it,” he mumbles. “I hate it when he goes out in the evening like that with no back-up or anything.”

“Peter can take care of himself, Tony,” Steve assures him, pulling him by the arm until he’s on his back, lying next to Steve. “Now, please, go to sleep. We’ll take care of everything tomorrow.”

“No can do,” Tony counters. “Tritium is pretty serious business.”

Steve lets out a loud breath. “It’s always serious business, honey. When else are we ever going to get a good night’s sleep with all this?”

He doesn’t give Tony a warning, instead throwing an arm over his side and pulling him closer, pressing his back against Steve’s chest. Then, with his hand resting above Tony’s heart and his nose almost pressing against his hair, Steve seems determined to go to sleep.

“FRI, can you pass the message about the stolen things to Dr. Octavius, tell him the team is working on catching the thief?”

“ _Of course, Captain Rogers_ ,” FRIDAY returns. “ _Do you also want me to do a cross-reference on the individual Peter mentioned during the phone call?”_

“If you please, I would be very grateful,” Steve adds. Tony rolls his eyes but lets out a small chuckle nonetheless. “Now, Peter’s headed to his apartment. Will you finally sleep?”

Tony can’t believe him. Yet, he’s still grinning widely, despite the continuous anxiety he’s feeling inside of him. “Sure,” he mutters back, feeling Steve press a kiss on the back of Tony’s neck. They both close their eyes, and while they don’t fall asleep immediately, eventually even Tony ends up into the land of dreams. And for this one, rare time, there’s no nightmares about bodies around him, or Peter’s lifeless body falling down on the ground. Which is a good thing, but not enough.

 

* * *

 

 

Peter quickly changes back into his normal clothes. His bag is not stolen for a change, given that he’s making sure it’s _really_ hidden from view from now on. Quickly he runs down the street, headed to the house that hosted the party. The fact that he can’t hear the music from the outside means that they must have put down the volume a bit. Peter knocks the door, not expecting an answer.

When nobody opens, he lets himself in instead. While the house had been extremely crowded when he arrived here at first, now it seems like the entire city of New York has been invited inside. Carefully, Peter digs himself through the crowd, ending up with lots of beer and wine being tipped over on him as he accidentally bumps in against a few people.

It’s going to be a mission to find Johnny in all this, somehow. Peter inspects every single person around him, but there’s only faces he doesn’t recognize other than maybe a few people from his class. Still, he doesn’t know them enough to just ask them if they’ve seen Johnny.

Now where can the dude be hiding?

Peter walks on, getting out of what seems like the living room and instead finding himself in front of some stairs. Seated on it is a girl, who looks like she’s already passed out. Peter carefully shifts her so she’s leaning against the wall instead of being hunched forward. He’s sure her back will appreciate that a little bit more.

Getting upstairs, Peter wonders if it’s even such a good idea to search through the bedrooms. He might just see things he doesn’t want to see at all.

“Johnny?” he asks, trying to be louder than the noise around him. While they might have contained the music, the people talking are still loud enough to make his ears start ringing.

Much to probably nobody’s surprise, there’s no answer. A guy suddenly jumps up out of nowhere, throwing an arm over Peter’s shoulder and pulling him close until his face is only a few centimeters removed from the other guy’s. Peter blinks a few times in surprise.

“Hey hot shot, you want me to blow you? I know a quiet place we could go,” the guy mumbles, drunkenly trying to flirt with Peter, who rolls his eyes and pushes the guy to the side.

“I’m sorry, I’m not swinging that way,” Peter clarifies, continuing on his way.

“Trust me, you probably are and just don’t know it yet!” the guy continues, but he doesn’t make any further attempt on trying to give Peter a blow job. At least that is something…

Peter just randomly starts knocking on a few doors, but whenever he opens it he usually finds some couple passed out, half naked. They’re in a bed, slumped against the wall with their pants lying by their feet. He even finds to girls currently getting their action on in the bathroom. He quickly closes the door again without trying to disturb them. He doesn’t want to get into that drama.

At the last door, he finally finds Johnny. He looks passed out, lying on his back in bed with only half his clothes on. There’s another girl lying there with him, almost completely naked aside from her underwear. Peter tries not to look at her too much. Instead, he walks up to Johnny, does his best to get him clothed again, and eventually picks him up.

“C’mon hot-shot, let’s get you home,” he mutters, throwing Johnny over his shoulder. The guy complains with a tired grunt, but snores on the entire way out of the house. That guy, the one who organized the party but which Peter can’t remember the name of, waves at him and drunkenly tells him he’ll see him tomorrow. Peter doubts that, but he doesn’t voice his thoughts.

Instead, he calls up for a cab, helps Johnny inside, and passes on the address. With Johnny’s head snoring on into his lap, Peter lets out a sigh while looking out the window. His mind goes back to this Black Cat. Who was she? And where is she? She’s got dangerous stuff with her, so he really hopes his Dad is after her, otherwise this would be pretty stupid.

Once arriving at their apartment, the driver gives Peter a confused look.

“You sure you don’t need any help with ‘im?” the man asks, lowering his glasses a bit. Peter shakes his head, positioning his backpack and then picking Johnny back up. He’s completely out of it, so he lifts him back over his shoulder and closes the door with his foot. After handing the driver some money through the window, he gives him a wave.

“Thanks,” he quickly adds. The driver just raises an eyebrow but then sighs and drives off. Peter starts walking towards the front door, only barely managing to get his keys out of his bag. Once the door is opened, he starts walking towards the elevator.

He stays there for a few seconds before he realizes something isn’t right.

The light isn’t burning.

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me?” he mutters, rolling his eyes up into the air and about ready to throw his arms up until he realizes he’s still holding Johnny. “Fucking shit piece of junk.”

He gives the doors of the elevator a kick before making a complete turn to get to the stairs. Preparing himself for the three floors he’s about to go up, he starts walking.

Now, it’s not like Johnny is heavy or anything, but nonetheless, after tonight, he’s pretty wired. By now, all he wants to do is get to bed and catch some sleep. He’s a bit out of breath when he gets to the third floor. Once he’s inside their apartment, he marches towards Johnny’s room, throws him down on the bed and heads out.

“Drunk asshole,” he mutters, turning his back towards Johnny and closing the door behind him. The guy’s going to have a hangover and probably some memory-loss, but it’s about what he deserves. Peter tries not to think too much about him before he gets to his own room and quickly pulls off his clothes but leaving on his underwear. He throws everything down on the ground, telling himself he’ll clean it up tomorrow. Then, with the lamp still on, he lies down on the bed and picks up the picture MJ took yesterday, giving it a quick look.

He smiles before he can think better of it. His finger passes over her face, so close to his on the photo. Instantly, Peter wishes they ware a bit more in the future, where he could just invite her over without it being awkward.

Right now, he could really do with somebody just… holding him while he sleeps.

Peter goes to sleep at one in the night.

He awakens about an hour later, hanging upside down in the dark of the night with no memory of how he got here.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter warnings:  
> \- sleepwalking  
> \- panic attacks

 Sleepwalking. Somnabulism, or noctabulism, are other terms for it. It’s a phenomenon of combined sleep and wakefulness and is classified as a sleeping disorder. That’s what comes into Peter’s mind while he lowers himself down on a balcony of whichever building he’s currently hanging from. He frowns, looking through the windows but only seeing his dark reflection in return. There’s no light anywhere near here.

Peter lets out a long breath. His heartrate is elevated, and his breathing is going a bit faster than it normally should. Quickly he clears his throat, turning away from the window to look at the city underneath him.

“Karen, what happened?”

He’s met with silence.

“What the-?” he mutters to himself, looking down at his hands but only seeing the dark texture of his suit. It might be the fact that there’s no light around him, but he could swear that his gloves appear darker than normally. It could just be in his head, because why would it possibly be darker?

He tries calling out Karen’s name once more, but nothing comes from it. Peter makes a questioning sound, taking a good look around him before deciding to get lower, maybe get himself under some light. He jumps off the wall, intending to swing his web to a nearby building only to smash against it. Without realizing it, he must have pushed himself off much harder than intended. Rubbing his aching shoulder, Peter sticks himself back up.

“Alright, second time will be better,” he mutters, reaching his hand towards the skyscraper next to him. And that’s when he realizes it.

His screen is blank. He doesn’t see anything in front of him but what he would see normally. There’s no number, no coordinates. It’s as if the system has shut itself off completely, but at the same time the suit works even better than before.

He feels… stronger?

“This is fucked up on many levels,” Peter mutters, finally shooting the web and deciding to get to somewhere he can actually see. The normally white web that comes out of his shooters is now jet black, and one short look at his invention makes him realize that there’s something else wrong.

The web shooters aren’t there.

Peter pulls a bit at the web, testing out its strength and resistance. When it appears to be sticking to the building in front of him, he lets go of the wall, letting himself fall down freely, swinging around. Instinctively, he shoots web after web, leaving the previous one hanging there until it should dissolve on itself. With a smooth movement, one he barely even understands, himself, he’s on the roof of a driving cab. A few people look up in surprise, pointing at him. He just waves, only wanting to be out of here as quickly as possible.

By the time he’s near Stark Tower, Peter jumps off the car. He must have surprised the diver, since he stops with shrieking tires, leaving black marks on the road. Peter waves him off in a thanks, jumping up towards the wall of the tower and then starting his climb up.

If there’s somewhere he can take a good look at this, it’s probably his Dad’s workshop.

Once he’s climbed up onto the balcony the lights turn on. Peter takes that chance to get a good look at his suit, finding that his once-red gloves are now indeed black. His wrists are bare, no longer carrying the technology he needs to shoot his webs. There are no refills on his belt, nothing.

Yet, he feels like he doesn’t need it at all.

“ _Should I announce your arrival, Peter?”_ FRIDAY suddenly asked, having sensed his presence the moment he got himself here.

“Nah, I won’t be staying long, just headed for the workshop,” Peter returns. He takes off the mask and gives it another long look. It’s so weird in many ways.

“ _Alright. Do you want me to let you know if your father wakes up?”_

“Yeah, that’s fine,” Peter mumbles. He starts walking inside the penthouse, immediately heading for the door that leads to the elevator. He shouldn’t linger for too long. He’d rather have his father not knowing about this, after all. Of course, there’s no way FRIDAY is going to keep this from him, but the longer he’s out of the fire, the better.

Grabbing some of his dad’s spare clothes that always linger in the workshop, Peter removes the suit and drops it on the workbench. Suspiciously, he keeps an eye on the suit. Now that he’s no longer wearing it he feels… weaker? Is that possible?

“FRI, can you call Ned?” Peter asks.

“ _It’s two in the night, I’m sure Mr. Leeds is asle-“_

“Please, FRI, I really need his help,” Peter urges on. FRIDAY doesn’t answer, but on the screen in front of him he can see that she’s dialed down the number. Peter grabs a few of his father’s tools and gets to work in search for anything remaining of the technology.

“ _Peter? Do you have any idea how late it is?”_ he suddenly hears Ned groaning in the background.

“Hypothetically speaking; if you would go to sleep in bed and end up waking with a black version of the Spider-Man-suit in the middle of nowhere, what kind of explanation would you give that?”

“ _Wait, what?”_ Ned mumbles. In the screen showing a close-up of Ned’s face, Peter sees him rubbing his eyes. “ _What the hell, Peter?”_

“There’s no trace of technology left in the suit; Karen was no longer there. But at the same time, while everything was missing, I felt stronger than ever before, you get me?”

_“No, I do not get you, Peter. You know, I was having such a nice dream, too.”_

“But The webs are black, everything is black; there’s no trace of color left in the suit. It looks kinda badass,” Peter continues on.

“ _Jesus, Peter, why don’t you just look it up tomorrow?”_

Peter looks up, blinking in surprise. The thought hadn’t even occurred him that he could wait with this. Then again, he’s not for nothing Tony Stark’s son; they’re both very curious people by nature, and wanting to get to the bottom of things is just… what they do;

“If I send you a sample of some of the fabric and the web-fluid, you mind checking it out for me?” Peter asks in a hurried voice.

“ _Why? You’re the genius here? Besides, why don’t you give it to Dr. Banner? I’m sure he’s the one actually capable of doing this, remember?”_

“Nah, I can’t risk him telling my dad. Bruce hates keeping secrets.”

Ned stays quiet for a bit. Peter is just about ready putting some scrapes of the suit into a few test tubes. Then he turns to the mask, turning it inside out and checking for any trace of technology in there. Much like he suspected, there’s nothing inside.

“ _Fine, send it to me, though I’m not sure what I can do with it, exactly. You’re the one who aced every biology-test.”_

“Forever grateful, Ned! I’ll let you sleep, now!” Peter leans towards the screen to end the call.

“ _Whoa, whoa, you should head to bed, too!”_

“No way! I’m feeling like- like I’ve had about five cups of coffee in a row! I feel too energized!”

“ _Peter, you know how Captain Rogers used to describe Mr. Stark before they were together?”_ Ned asks, clear annoyance in his voice. His right eyebrow is raised up, clearly unimpressed by Peter’s attempt of staying awake.

“Uh, a sleep-deprived mad scientist?” Peter recalls.

“ _Exactly. Now I’m calling you the same thing, unless you’re going to bed, alright?”_

“Buzzkill,” Peter mutters. “But you’re right, I should get some sleep. Tomorrow I need to figure out a way to get Karen back into the mask.”

“ _There you go. Good night, Peter.”_

“Night, Ned!”

After the call ends, Peter collects his stuff again, making sure to leave no trace behind. He leaves the building through the balcony once more, feeling like screaming it out of excitement once he start swinging his way back towards his new home.

 

* * *

 

 

Tony doesn’t know how long Steve has been awake. His eyes are open the moment Tony stumbles out of his sleep, his head resting under his hand while he quietly observes Tony with a weird look on his face. It’s a mixture of fondness, but also guilt, Tony can tell.

“What’s going on, Steve?” Tony mutters out, rubbing his eyes while turning onto his back. Steve shifts, too, coming to lean on his elbow to sit up higher for a bit.

“Can’t I just look at my boyfriend for a little bit?” Steve asks innocently.

“Sure, but after last night it brings up some questions into my mind that I’m not sure I want to know the answer to,” Tony admits. He looks up to the ceiling, leaving a hand on his chest while the other one goes behind his head. He hears Steve sigh again, but where he thought he would have reached out for him, now Steve just copies Tony’s position. Once they’re side-by-side, on their backs while looking at the white ceiling, Steve finally holds out a hand, keeping it up in the air in Tony’s eyesight.

Without any hesitation, Tony takes it, crossing their fingers together.

“Do you resent me? For the kid-stuff?” Steve asks then, all of the sudden. There’s an obvious fear in his voice that gives Tony some shudders.

“You know I don’t,” Tony answers automatically. It’s his usual answer whenever Steve asks it. Does he resent him? Of course he doesn’t.

Or does he?

“Then why don’t I believe you?” Steve asks. Tony sighs, pulling his hand away and leaning up on his elbows until he’s sitting. With a smooth turn, he throws his legs out of the bed and gets onto his feet. The floor is warm underneath him. It’s pleasant.

He hears shifting behind him. Tony doesn’t turn around.                

“Steve can we please just not bring this up again and again? We know where we stand with this.”

“But Tony I-“

“Damnit, Steve, forget about it, alright?! All that matters now is keeping Peter alive!”

Steve stays quiet. Tony squeezes his eyes shut, pressing his fingers against his forehead while keeping the images out of his mind. He doesn’t need them again, doesn’t need the reminder. Automatically, he reaches for his nightstand, grabbing the bottle of pills and taking the two needed capsules out of them. With a heavy breath, he swallows them whole with the aid of a nearly-empty bottle of water. After downing the last bit of the bottle, he throws it somewhere behind him.

“Sweetheart, you know Peter’s not in any danger right now, right?” Steve asks carefully. Tony lets out a sniff, breathing out heavily through his nose while keeping his eyes closed.

“I know,” he mumbles. “I know, it’s just… I can’t get it out of my head.”

Suddenly there are arms surrounding him. Not holding him in the usual embrace. Something stronger, making pressure on his chest. Tony hangs on to it as if it’s the only thing keeping him alive. While counting to ten inside his mind, he tries to keep his breathing steady.

“It didn’t happen, okay?” Steve mumbles against his ear. “Peter’s alright. He’s in class right now, he sent us a text only an hour ago to say he was headed to the campus.”

“He’s alright?” Tony breathes out. He feels Steve nod against him.

“He’s alright,” Steve agrees. Then he gently kisses Tony on the shoulder. “If anything, I think he only texted us to ask if you found anything on that cat-lady.”

Tony groans, having forgotten all about the tritium and the Octavius-stuff that happened yesterday. Steve lets out a small chuckle, pulling him back until they’re both lying on their sides.

“Lie with me for a few minutes, alright?” Steve asks. “Take a breather, and after that we’ll search for the woman.”

“FRI, did you warn Dr. Octavius for me?” Tony asks.

“I did. He was most grateful for the warning and is trying to look through his security footage. I also made him aware of the role Spider-Man had in this.”

“Good,” Tony mutters. He huffs out a breath, pulling his head back until it’s resting against Steve’s chest. In his head, he counts to ten, taking slow breaths to try and relax his body. Behind him he can hear Steve hum out a song. Tony can’t help but roll his eyes when he hears it, finding himself distracted almost immediately.

“Of course you need to go for Sheeran,” Tony mumbles while keeping focus on his breathing.

“It’s our song,” Steve counters in between his humming.

“It’s everybody’s song.”

“Shut up, Tony.”

“Yeah, I love you, too.”

He hears Steve chuckle behind him, and then there’s a pair of lips pressed against the back of his neck. Tony closes his eyes, letting out a long breath. Steve keeps on humming behind him, the melody put out in perfect tune against the back of Tony’s head. He doesn’t even know how long they’re lying there: a minute? Maybe ten? But by the time Steve has finished humming out the second song, Tony feels relaxed again.

At least, as relaxed as he can be.

He shifts on the bed, turning around to face Steve. Putting a hand under his head, his eyes lock with Steve. Neither of them speaks or moves, instead just looking and breathing. Then, after what must be two more minutes, Tony finally reaches out a hand and puts it on Steve’s cheek.

“You do know it, right?” he asks, “that I love you?”

The corners of Steve’s lips curl up, giving Tony a small smile. His eyes look at him fondly, his hand coming to rest on Tony’s against his cheek.

“I know it,” Steve answers. “Though I don’t mind you repeating it from time to time.”

“Will you please then also understand that I love you despite our different views?” Tony continues. Now that he’s calmer, he feels ready to finish this conversation. “Sure, it sucks. It’s going to suck for a little while. But I want you by my side. Only you.”

“You’re being extremely sappy this morning,” Steve remarks.

“That’s what happens when my boyfriend is an idiot,” Tony returns. He leans forward again to kiss him on the lips. It’s a gentle touch, lips caressing each other in an easy caress. They don’t pull apart, either, just keep their lips close to each other while enjoying each other’s presence.

“We can’t all be super-geniuses, right?” Steve mutters against his mouth.

“Yeah, well, this super-genius should be getting information on this Black Cat-lady Peter talked about.” Tony pulls back at last, getting out of Steve’s embrace and finally leaving the bed. He limps towards the window, leaning a hand against it, and almost automatically FRIDAY removes the blinds, revealing the city of New York underneath them;

“You do realize you’re standing in front of the window wearing no clothes at all?” Steve asks without moving from his spot. Tony puts his hands on his hips and takes on a heroic pose.

“Let ‘em look!” he jokes before turning around anyway. “Let’s get to work.”

“You’re right. I should head out, as well,” Steve mutters. He, too, gets out of bed. Not bothering to head for the showers, he just puts on a few clothes near to him. “I’ll get the coffee ready.”

“And that’s why I love you,” Tony says with a grin. Steve winks at him, heading out of the room without saying anything else. That’s when Tony lets out a long sigh, sitting down on the bed again and putting a hand on his hurting leg. He shouldn’t have been walking like that so carelessly, but it seems like even Steve has forgotten about it.

Tony looks down at the bandages. They’re not bloody, so there’s at least that. He hesitates on taking them off, but then it would mean he’d have to put them back up as well. He decides not to do that, instead leaving it be as it is.

“Honey?” Tony asks loudly.

“Yeah?” he hears in the background.

“Could you maybe get my crutches from the workshop? I mean I would walk but I’m not sure you won’t kill me for it.”

“Right, I’ll get them!”

Tony waits after that. Quickly, he leans towards his nightstand and takes out his cellphone, finding that he has indeed a message from Peter. It says exactly what Steve said it did, so he texts back a quick ‘okay’ and instead starts up the security feed FRIDAY has started up.

“Say, any luck on this girl we’re looking for?” Tony asks.

“ _I’ve found a total of five mentions of a girl calling herself Black Cat. Mostly it has to do with break-ins and stolen goods. So far, nobody has really gotten face to face with her.”_

Tony hums, pulling up the security images and finding only blurs of a light-haired person in black skin-tight suits. She’s pretty much how Peter described her, but it’s not much to go on. Facial recognition won’t be possible in this case.

“What was stolen, exactly?” Tony asks.

“ _Mostly materials that come at a high price on the black market. Supposedly, she steals them for other people who then pay her for her services.”_

“Awesome,” Tony mumbles. When the door opens he turns around to face Steve, who is holding up Tony’s crutches.

“Here we go,” Steve says happily, handing them to Tony along with a kiss on his forehead.

“Thanks babe,” Tony returns fondly. He allows Steve to pull him up, and then with minimal pressure on his hurt leg, Tony gets himself to the kitchenette where he sits down on the stool. Steve hands him a cup of coffee, and then starts collecting some stuff to prepare breakfast. Tony watches him work for a few seconds before pulling up his phone again.

“Say, Steve, you think the Avengers are up for a night-mission?” Tony asks suddenly. Steve doesn’t turn around while he prepares some eggs.

“Sure they are,” he returns. “You have something for us?”

“I don’t know, yet,” Tony mutters, giving the blurred image of the Black Cat another long look. “This girl might not harm anybody directly, but she can still cause lots of damage, you know?”

Steve nods. “You don’t think she might go after some Stark-tech next, right?”

“I think she knows my security is unbreachable,” Tony assures him.

“Yet the Vulture still managed to break into your quinjet?” Steve counters, unimpressed. Tony gives him a glare before rolling his eyes.

“Shut up, that was a one-time thing and I’ve already fixed the system.”

“I know you have.” Steve pulls out a plate and drops the egg on it, handing it to Tony with a proud look on his face. Tony just smiles at him, reaching for his fork and knife and getting to his breakfast.

After Steve, too, has taken place, a pleasant silence has come up. While Steve looks up the news on the tablet, Tony goes through whatever FRIDAY has found on the Black Cat. After ten minutes of this, Tony puts down his phone and starts looking at Steve, only to find out the super soldier has been having the same idea. The time of reddened cheeks are far behind them now, so Tony just grins and reaches out his hand, allowing Steve to put his above it.

“Hear about Hilde? Apparently she’s decided to head out at the end of the week,” Steve starts. Tony nods.

“Yeah, I’ve arranged the plane to take her to New Asgard. So far from what Jane has shown me they’ve built it up pretty nicely,” he explains. “Those Asgardians are incredible!”

“Think we should go and pay a visit?” Steve squeezes Tony’s hand, looking at their fingers entwined together with a fond look on his face.

“Perhaps, yeah. We could take Peter along? Make it a little holiday?” Tony suggests. Steve shrugs.

“Sure, or… if you want… we could go somewhere next week and it’ll just be, you know, the two of us?” Steve winks at him, crawling up his hand to Tony’s lower arm.

“Oh, you want to have a honeymoon without the wedding?” Tony jokes. “Sure, we can arrange that. I’m sure Pepper wouldn’t mind me leaving the company for a few days.”

Steve stares at him, studying him intently.

“What?” Tony asks.

“I just never know if you’re joking or not,” Steve admits. Tony smirks in return.

“I guess we’ll never know now, shall we?” he asks. Then he pulls his hand back completely and reaches for his crutch, getting himself off the chair without any trouble. “Now how about I go search for that criminal of ours before Peter comes to rip me a new one?”

Steve nods at him. Tony gives him another quick peck on the cheek before heading out of the room. Getting to the elevator that leads to his workshop, Tony feels some sudden sense of worry passing over him. He can’t explain why, though.

It’s probably better to just ignore it, then.

 

* * *

 

 

“Peter!”

The boy in question is on his way to his last class of the day. It’s a beautiful, sunny day, meaning that he’s taking his time travelling to his destination as he lets the rays of the sun travel down on his skin and heat him up. Johnny had been walking next to him up to five minutes ago but had to take an earlier turn to get to his class.

Peter turns around when he hears his name called out. A few times, he blinks. For one part because the sun is almost literally blinding him, but secondly because he’s not really sure who is talking to him. It takes a few seconds for him to place the neat brown hair and the dark blue eyes of Felicia. It’s strange, just for a second her voice sounded like that of… no way, not possible.

“Oh, hi,” Peter greets her with a smile, holding up a hand in a wave. In all honesty, he wouldn’t have thought she’d even talk to him again. “How are you?”

Felicia starts walking next to him, fishing Peter’s book out from his arms and reading up on the front page.

“Hmm, biology stuff? Way out of my league, sugar,” she says without looking up. Peter keeps on walking and she follows easily.

“I could say the same thing about those art-classes of yours,” Peter counters. Felicia hands him back his book and gives him a wide smile, showing her larger front teeth. It’s kind of beautiful to look at, he realizes. Then he internally slaps himself on the head for even thinking that.

“Actually I didn’t come here to talk about school; I was wondering if maybe you want to hang out tonight? Go see a movie? There’s this Slenderman movie that came out last month but I haven’t gone to see it yet.”

Peter stands still, looking at Felicia with his mouth fallen open, blinking in disbelief.

“I, uh- I don’t really like horrors,” he admits in embarrassment. He could just drop dead after this. Instead of warning her that he’s in this sort-of-thing with MJ he just uses the ‘I’m scared of horror-‘ card? That’s lame, to say the least.

“Oh? Too bad, I’m not going to watch it alone. But maybe something else is on? I heard something about a new Predator-movie?”

“Listen, Felicia, I would love to hang out but I do have a kind-of girlfriend, remember? I need to make sure she’s alright with this first,” Peter admits. Even where he stands he can see MJ walking over the campus. She’s surrounded by her classmates, only barely noticing him before she enters a building. She smiles and waves at him, but then she’s gone.

“It’s alright, Peter. We can just be friends,” Felicia admits with a smile. Then she takes Peter’s arm and crosses hers with it. Starting up the pace again, Peter finds that Felicia seems to have a lot to talk about. She rattles on about the movies, some hot celebrities and so forth.

And by the time Peter gets to his classroom, she lets go of him at last, correcting his shirt quickly before nodding to the entrance.

“You go on, I’m headin’ on home. Got some work to do, after all,” she says with a grin. Peter nods, holding up a hand for a high five. When she returns the gesture, he smirks before leaving the hallway. Entering the auditorium for today, Peter is once again facing hundreds of other students, all having taken their favorite seats in the room. Peter clears his throat, trying to catch anybody familiar but failing at it.

Once he’s seated down on a random chair, he takes out his phone and finds that he has a message from is dad (a simple ‘Okay’). After checking his social media, he turns off the internet once more and starts taking out his notebook, starting to scribble down a bit on the paper. Right now, all he wants to do is take a look at the suit, find out what exactly happened to it and, if it’s a completely new suit, he needs to know what happened to the previous one.

The class starts. Peter is aware of the professor talking in the front, writing things down on the blackboard as he once again describes every little function of the human cell. Peter isn’t paying attention, already knowing all this stuff. Instead he writes down his own notes, suggestions on what he’s going to do about the suit and how he’s going to fix it back up.

Not that it needs a lot of fixing; sure, installing Karen back again would be great, but further than that Peter realizes he doesn’t need much else. Somehow, it already makes him stronger, more agile. Peter feels better than ever before because of it. However that could be, he knows he should question it. But to be honest, he couldn’t care less.

Peter endures the class, ending up with a paper scribbled with nothing more but possible additions for the new suit. Mostly, it’s just the same thing over and over again. ‘Karen’. Not that he can’t function without her, but it’s actually a whole lot less lonely with her voice humming in his ear.

He runs out of the auditorium with a high speed. Coincidentally, he passes MJ who waves at him with a small smile.

“Hi, Peter!” she calls out while running up to him. Peter keeps up his fast pace.

“Hi honey, I really need to go but I’ll talk to you tonight?” he asks right before kissing her on the cheek and running off. He doesn’t see MJ’s surprised look at his sudden behavior, only realizing it once he’s back in the apartment.

Did he really just call MJ ‘honey’? Doesn’t that equal suicide? He can’t imagine MJ liking the idea of pet names at all!

He tries to shake the memory off. Going for his workbench, he takes out the mask to turn it inside out. Then, having inherited his father’s brain, he gets to work.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been watching Jessica Jones again, and I really really REALLY feel the need to add her into this story one way or another. I really love her character, and I think she would be hilarious in combination with Peter (what with her constant glooming and Peter's hyperactivity). I need to figure that out.  
> Chapter warnings:  
> \- Infidelity? I don't really think it could be considered that, but I'll just tag it so anyway.   
> \- Nothing else, much.

Sharon Carter enters the tower at exactly seven in the evening. She’s still in her SHIELD-uniform, holding a tablet in her hands while she keeps on tapping away on the screen, not even looking up at Tony or Steve as she walks inside.

“Hello to you, too,” Tony mutters out playfully. His legs are thrown over Steve’s, with a sketching book resting above them while Steve uses him as a table to draw around a bit. “How is my dear cousin of mine?”

“I have some news, but I’m not sure you’re going to like it,” Sharon says instead of responding to Tony. The engineer rolls his eyes, while Steve puts his sketchbook aside, rests a hand over the couch while turning a bit in Sharon’s direction.

“What’s wrong?” Steve asks? Tony looks up from his tablet to look at Sharon as well. Then, suddenly, the thing vibrates in his hand as an indication that he has incoming files.

“I sent you some of our results on your tablet,” she says with a clear uneasy look on her face. Then her eyes rest on Steve for a few seconds before turning to Tony. “First analysis indicate a non-existent substance. So far, we’ve gathered nothing about it other than it seeming quite indestructible. They’re trying out a few things.”

Tony opens up the files and starts playing one of the video files that came along with it.

“FRI, can you get Bruce up here, please?” Tony asks.

“Don’t bother, he’s already on his way,” Sharon stops her with a small hand gesture. “I came across him when I came here.”

“So you’re not here for a social visit, aren’t you? It’s like I barely see you anymore these days Pumpkin,” Tony complains in exaggeration without looking up from his screen. Though with mirrored images, Steve tries to follow along. Once Tony notices, he sits up a bit, carefully moving his leg until it’s in a good position while he’s sitting. Then he allows Steve to look along. Sharon, too, leans above the couch to read with them.

“What are we looking at here?” Steve asks, curiously. Tony just hums in response, not really sure how to answer that question.

“Honey, I know I’m a fast learner but I need a little more time to actually read this,” Tony counters before turning to him with a big smile on his face. Steve rolls his eyes, pushing his head aside.

“Get to reading, smartass,” Steve tells him. Sharon passes a hand through his hair to mess it up even more, causing for her and Steve to laugh at the state of him. He grumbles in return, pulling the tablet back to himself.

“You guys are no help at all,” he complains. He doesn’t startle when the door to the penthouse opens and Bruce comes walking inside, eyes planted on his own tablet as well as he’s reading whatever Tony is looking at right now.

“Tony, you’re seeing this?” Bruce asks, not looking up. Instead, he drops down on the couch between Steve and Tony – probably without thinking about it – and leaning towards Tony to see where he’s currently at.

“I haven’t gone through everything yet since Blonde Ambition times two over there keep on distracting me,” he mutters. Steve and Sharon roll their eyes again.

“How about you two head to the workshop then? I’ll make us something to eat,” Steve suggests. “Sharon, want to help?”

“Of course!” Tony’s cousin almost shouts, happy that she’s getting the chance to help out. Tony and Bruce stand up simultaneously, though Tony has to hand his tablet over to Bruce so he can take his crutches in hand. Together, they leave the living room behind them, getting back to the elevator to get to the workshop.

“So, more alien stuff,” Tony complains. “It’s almost like it’s searching us out, don’t you think?”

“No kidding,” Bruce complains, rubbing his forehead while letting out a sigh. “Just when you think it’s finally over…”

“Ah, Brucie, it’ll never be over now that we have a whole civilization of aliens building up a Kingdom in Norway,” Tony jokes. Once the door to the workshop opens, Tony and Bruce get inside to take place at the large desks. Tony motions towards the screens and they start up after that, now projecting the same thing he was looking at on the tablet. “FRI, care to analyze this stuff?”

“ _Of course, sir,”_ FRIDAY responds. Tony then takes his cellphone and gives it a quick look. There’s still nothing from Peter, which surprises him a bit. Isn’t he curious about what they’ve found about that Black Cat-person?

“Should we send some of this stuff to Shuri?” Bruce asks. Tony puts a finger on his chin while he quickly looks over the words on the page. “The more people are on this, the better. Maybe send some of this stuff to Reed as well…”

“Normally I would hate asking help from others, but you might be right,” Tony mutters. He taps towards the screen, copying the files into a large message and addressing it to King T’Challa’s younger sister and Reed fucking Richards. “Any other smart people on our list?”

Bruce shrugs. “Maybe Jane? Selvig? Maybe if I send it to Betty she might-“

“Hey, good idea! I’ll add her to the list,” Tony quickly interrupts him. Bruce wants to protest and probably say that he didn’t actually mean it, but Tony doesn’t give him the chance. He quickly sends the message and then leans back in his seat.

“Tony…” Bruce mumbles in defeat while shaking his head. The engineer just gives him a big smile.

“C’mon bro, if you’re not going to do anything about her, then I will,” he assures him. Bruce sighs but doesn’t comment further on it. So instead, Tony pulls up whatever they’ve found on the alien matter and the two of them start their research.

After about an hour and half, they’re interrupted by Steve and Sharon who announce that dinner is ready. So far, they’ve found absolutely nothing to work with.

 

* * *

 

 

Spider-Man finds the Black Cat again a week after they first met. She’s once again on a rooftop, keeping watch over the city while standing dangerously close to the edge. Though she doesn’t move, Peter knows she’s aware of his presence.

“Why did you do it?” Peter asks, getting to the matter immediately without bothering to beat around the bush. The Cat turns her head slightly, but he still can’t see her face due to all that light hair. It almost seems white from up here.

“You’re going to have to be a bit more specific, handsome,” she tells him, sounding cheeky just like she did before.

“Why did you steal that tritium? And where is it now?”

“The highest bidder,” the Cat returns. Then she finally stands up and turns around to face Peter. Her eyes widen a bit when she looks at Peter’s form. “I gotta say, black looks way better. We kind of match now, don’t you think?”

“I don’t really get how you don’t see how serious this is,” Peter mutters. The Cat rolls her eyes.

“You’ve got to be kidding me, right?” she complains. Then she walks up to him, putting her hands on his hips and squeezing them. “I want to get to know you. Let’s just hang out.”

“You’re crazy,” Peter tells her. The girl shrugs and walks back towards the edge of the roof.

“Crazy is relative,” she says calmly, kneeling back down until she’s seated almost like a cat keeping watch. When she turns her head to the side, there’s still a grin on her lips. “So, what’s your name?”

“Like I’m going to tell you,” Peter returns, crossing his arms.

“No, no, that’s not how the game works,” she counters. “You answer my question and then I’ll answer one of yours. I won’t hold back.”

Peter frowns under his mask, still waiting for Karen to continue her identifying-scan of the Cat’s face. So far she seems to have no luck. He can’t speak, afraid of her hearing it. Instead, he just decides to go along for now.

“Benjamin,” Peter then answers, not really telling the truth but not lying, either. Benjamin is his second name, after all. He just never really uses it.

The Cat seems happy with the answer, nodding towards the empty spot next to her. Peter sighs but sits down on the edge after all. Besides, if he falls he’ll just swing some webs. There’s enough tall buildings around here.

“So? What’s your question?” she asks. Peter clears his throat.

“Uh, who’s your buyer?” he asks.

“Oh, I don’t know his names. I only got to meet his contacts. He’s much about keeping a low profile and all,” she explains. “But he’s Russian, that I can tell you.”

Peter hums in understanding, looking back to the city and taking in all the lights. Each of them is a family, spending the evening together. Or a lonely person, probably curled up behind the TV. Or those individuals that are currently working, much like aunt May right now.

“Are you married?”

“WHAT?!” Peter shrieks out in surprise, almost jumping off the edge because of it. “No I’m not!”

“Huh, you sound surprised I’d even ask that,” the Cat returns. “That must mean you’re still young, which isn’t that surprising given the fact that you just sounded like a girl on a rollercoaster.”

Peter glares at her. She can’t see it.

“Why are you doing what you’re doing? Stealing stuff?”

The Cat looks back into the night sky, blinking a few times before letting out a deep breath.

“A family matter. My father’s in jail for a crime he didn’t commit. There’s somebody who can get him out, but I need the money for it.”

Wow, Peter wouldn’t have expected that.

“Uh, I’m sorry to hear that,” Peter tells her, truthfully. The Cat just shrugs.

“Eh, he’s almost out,” she assures him. “Now, are you gay?”

Where the hell does she get her questions?

“No I’m not!” Peter counters loudly. The Cat giggles after that.

“I’m sorry, just wanted to make sure before I throw myself at you like a cat in heat.”

Peter clears his throat, feeling his cheeks warm up.

“How about a chase?” the Cat suddenly asks. Before Peter can ask what she means, she suddenly pushes him on his back until he falls down. On instinct, he starts shouting before remembering that he still has his webs. Quickly, he swings himself over to the next building, seeing a dark shadow passing over him.

“ARE YOU CRAZY?!” Peter shouts at her.

“Come and catch me, sweetcheeks!” she counters before disappearing completely. Peter swings back up, going after her without any question. He still needs to know what the tritium was for, after all!

“Karen you’re still there?” Peter asks while keeping an eye on the girl’s light hair. She should have chosen a darker hair-color if she didn’t want to stand out so much.

“ _Of course, Peter,”_ she returns.

“Can you try tracking her in a way?”

_“Have you put a tracking-device on her?”_

“Uh, no?”

“ _Then I cannot.”_

Peter rolls his eyes again, landing on another roof and reaching out his hand when she’s almost in his grasp. Then she rolls over on the ground, jumping up into the air and using those wires of hers to get to the next building. Peter lets out a huff and starts running again.

It goes on for a few more minutes. Every time Peter’s close to her, she does something completely unexpected and escapes. It’s getting annoying after a while. Peter runs and jumps and swings as much as he can, but even his new dark suit doesn’t help with speed. Sure, he’s feeling much more agile and flexible than he normally would, but she’s still faster.

Eventually, he catches up. Grabbing her by the shoulder, he intends to stop her and turn her around. Instead, he finds himself unable to stop, throwing both of them on the ground. As if it’s a reflex for her, after they make a roll, the Cat kicks Peter away from her, but before she can make her escape Peter grabs a hold of her foot and holds her back.

“Oh, some sparring, huh? Beware, I don’t hold back,” the girl warns him. Peter ignores her, instead groaning when suddenly the soles of her shoe smash against his face. Instantly, he reaches for his head in search for the damage, but he quickly realizes he can’t see it just yet.

Peter jumps up, ignoring the pain in his head. Much to his surprise the Black Cat remains standing there instead of running off again. Looks like she bored of it as well.

“Show me what you got, pretty boy,” she calls him out. Peter shakes his shoulder loose.

“How did you know about Octavius’ Tritium?” Peter asks right before kicking his leg out towards her. He doesn’t intend to hurt her, just push her around a bit. What he gets in return is another kick but this time in the stomach.

“He told me himself,” she returns with a heavy breath, quickly avoiding the swing of his hand but with her eyes clearly opened wide, apparently shocked that he would try and punch back. She lifts up her leg to throw in another kick, but Peter’s senses kick in after that and he grabs her foot instead, lifting it up until she falls down on her back. “Are you, like, extremely deformed underneath that mask?”

“No I’m not,” Peter assures her. He throws a web in her face, distracting her. After that he jumps up onto her shoulders, wrapping his legs together around her neck and trying to make her fall over. “Where did you learn to fight like this?”

“Experimental training,” the Cat responds. When there’s suddenly a sharp sting in Peter’s legs, he lets go of the chokehold. The Cat gasps for breath before getting back on her feet, holding up her hands in very loose fists. “You have a girlfriend?”

“No.” Peter doesn’t hesitate. Nobody needs to know anything about that aspect of his personal life. He would rather have people not finding out about MJ. “There’s nobody.”

 ‘Good,” the Cat returns. She puts a hand on Peter’s cheek (over his mask) and gives him a long look before pulling up her leg, initiating a kick. Peter jumps out of the way, making a back flip and landing a great distance away from him.

Much to his surprise, she charges after him, a grin wide on her face. Peter once again jumps to the side, not even getting his chance to ask his question.

“You don’t kick back, you afraid to hit a girl?” she jokes, kicking out her leg again but barely missing him.

“I’ve been raised as a gentleman,” Peter assures her. She smirks even wider before putting her hands on his shoulders, suddenly pushing him back once again. Peter puts his foot behind him, realizing that there’s no more ground underneath him. Quickly, he shoots his web to the roof to stop his fall.

He doesn’t climb back up when he sees her come down his web instead. His senses don’t warn him for upcoming attacks, so he does nothing but watch her.

“What’s your name?” Peter asks without thinking about it, looking into her hypnotizing green eyes. She waits until she’s climbed down completely, hooking her legs around his and putting a hand on his shoulders.

“How about you try to find out?” she says in a low voice. When he feels a hand suddenly reaching for the underside of his mask, he finds himself alarmed.

“ _Your secret identity is about to be compromised, Peter,”_ Karen warns him. Peter wants to react, but somehow, he’s slow. Looking deep into those green eyes, he only realizes he should stop her when his mask is raised up over his mouth.

By the time he’s grabbed her hands to stop her, her lips are already pressed against his. She kisses him with heat, some sort of desire he can’t really understand. They barely know each other, and Peter’s never been one to just hook up with strangers unlike some of his peers (Johnny). Still, there’s a thrill going through him. His heart speeds up, feeling as if it’s about to jump out of his chest. Nothing inside of him tells him to pull away.

Instead he closes his eyes, opening up his mouth and grasping for breath.

Wait, there’s something he’s missing here…

Feeling his chest heat up inside of him, he barely catches his hands letting go of her wrists, putting one of them behind her head and pulling her closer. Whatever he’s missing, it’s probably not that important, right?

“ _Incoming call from Ms. Jones,”_ Karen suddenly interrupts.

That’s when Peter finally pulls back, suddenly realizing what that one thing was he was forgetting about.

“Don’t pick u-“ he starts, sounding a bit breathless.

“ _Hi, Peter! Are you busy right now?”_ Peter silently curses towards Karen’s inability to hold herself back.

“MJ! Hi, uh, hi! I’m, uh, kind of doing something right now, is there something wrong?” He quickly looks behind him to see where the Cat is. She seems to be climbing up, back to the roof.

“ _Oh, no I was just in the neighborhood and I thought I could come by. But I could come in another time?”_

“No, no, Johnny’s inside so you can just get in. I’ll be there in maybe twenty minutes or so…”

_“You sure? I don’t want to impose?”_

“No, it’s fine. See you soon.”

Peter waits for Karen to hang up on the call before letting out a long breath. His heart is still beating fast, but this time for a whole different reason. He can’t believe _that_ just happened! What was he thinking? Why didn’t he just push her aside, tell her that he’s not interested?

Disgusted with himself, Peter passes the back of his hand over his lips as if to dry them. His mask is still lifted up so he quickly pulls it down, glad that she at least didn’t pull it off completely.

“Now, what’s wrong sweetcheeks? I thought we were having fun?”

Peter turns around in surprise, seeing the Black Cat standing there with her hands on her hips. The lipstick she was wearing is a bit smudged. He clears his throat, averting his eyes from those strong green eyes, or that cleavage that suddenly seems to be standing out even more.

What the shit.

“I just- I need to get going.” Peter points his thumb to somewhere behind his shoulder. Then, he quickly looks down, wondering where he’s standing right now? He doesn’t remember climbing back up to the roof?

Apparently, he has. He must have done it during the phone call or something.

“So you do have a girlfriend,” she states, though not sounding angry about it at all.

“No, no I don’t, I just- my friend, my, uh roommate, he needs- he, uh… there’s someone at the house I don’t want to leave alone with him and, uh…”

“Don’t break yourself. I’ll catch you another time, darling,” she returns. With a wink, she throws herself back over the edge of the roof. Once she’s far away enough, he realizes she might have done all of this on purpose to get his guard down. If that’s the case, she’s succeeded rather easily.

 _I should get out of here_ , Peter thinks to himself. Quickly, he throws himself off the roof, swinging his way to his own apartment building with a tension in his body that he hasn’t really felt before. Feeling as if his cheeks are permanently colored red, he goes on until he arrives at the window in his bedroom. Easily, he opens it and sneaks inside when he sees there’s nobody in there. Shrugging out of the suit, Peter grabs for some clothes he randomly finds lying around and puts them on without bothering to see if they match.

Right when he’s about to get back outside, he notices his reflection; there’s smudged lipstick all over his mouth.

A gasp escapes from his throat. Hurriedly, he wets his lips and passes the sleeve of his shirt over it, willing for everything to be gone. His face hurts from all the rubbing, even coloring red itself because of it. But he’s clean now, so that’s good at least.

Peter walks through the front door as if nothing ever happened. He shouldn’t be surprised that both Johnny and MJ are seated on the couch, both with controllers in their hands while racing each other in Johnny’s silly game. Peter smirks when he sees it, realizing they haven’t heard him enter.

“Hi guys!” he calls out. He closes the door behind him and drops his key in the bowl next to the door. Then he kicks off his shoes, hangs up his coat and walks towards the couch. “Who’s winning?”

“Obviously, I am,” MJ says smugly, slightly sticking her tongue out as she tries to outsmart Johnny. The latter just seems to have accepted the fact that he’s not going to win the moment he crashes against the wall and swings off the road.

He drops down the controller, turning towards Peter and giving him a surprised look.

“What happened to you? Your mouth is all red? Did you eat something you weren’t supposed to?” he asks curiously. Peter rubs over his mouth again, afraid he might have missed some of the lipstick. MJ then, too, drops her controller to turn towards Peter.

“Oh, uh, I think so? I mean, suddenly everything started itching, it was crazy!” he lies, trying not to make too much of a deal about it. He can’t really just announce right here that some random girl started kissing him with no warning!

“What did you eat?” MJ asks in worry. Peter shrugs.

“It was some free sample on the street. I already had Bruce look it over so it’s no big deal,” Peter assures her. Then he puts his hands in his hoodie and offers them a smile. “So what are the plans?”

“Well, I’ve got a party to go to right now and I don’t think you’re going to join me?” Johnny tries. It’s already clear on MJ’s face that she’s not looking forward to that. Neither is Peter, so he just gives him an apologetic look.

“Eh, maybe another time?” he offers. He knows it’s college and that he’s supposed to just go out and have fun, but honestly? Hanging out with MJ tonight sounds ten times better. “You just go to your party. And you know the rule!”

“Yeah yeah, I can’t bring home more than one girl,” Johnny complains while rolling his eyes. “I already know, don’t remind me of it all the time.”

“It’s what I do,” Peter says with a smirk. Johnny finally stands up and heads towards his room to get dressed for the occasion. Peter just clears his throat before jumping over the couch. In her surprise, MJ starts laughing when the pillows jump up and down along with it as he lands.

“You know, you surprise me sometimes,” MJ suddenly says.

“Why?” he asks, curiously. MJ just shrugs.

“I don’t know, it’s just- you’re just so much more athletic than you pretended to be at school. Have you been working out in secret?”

Peter chuckles nervously, passing a hand through his hair and clearing his throat again.

“Oh, uhm, I’ve been having a lot of training with Widow in the past few months,” he offers. It’s lame, but it’s something, right? MJ just nods but doesn’t say anything in return. Instead, she gets up from her spot, grabbing Peter’s hand and pulling him back up again.

“Come,” she says. Peter chuckles.

“Where are we going this time?” he asks.

“Homeless shelter,” she responds shortly. It’s all he needs to know what she means. He smiles back at her, getting to his coat and putting his shoes back on. After saying a quick goodbye to Johnny, they head out of the apartment. He doesn’t even realize his hand is still linked with hers while they walk into the streets.

The way to the shelter is short. They already know them, recognizing them the moment they arrive. The services that are handing out food are always glad to see them. Without needing any prompting, the two just grab an apron and take place behind the table to serve along some soup. It’s just what they do.

While some people go ice skating, or get to a fancy dinner or a dancing, MJ and Peter just feed the homeless, with the odd few protesting on the side whenever the occasion arises.

Once the rain starts pouring, they decide it’s time to wrap it up again. Saying their goodbyes to everybody, Peter and MJ leave the shelter and head back into the streets of New York. With their arms linked together and the drops of rain pouring down on them, they look into the windows of all the closed stores on the street. Halloween hasn’t passed yet, so at least there aren’t Christmas-stuff already hanging out.

Peter walks MJ back to her house. She doesn’t live to far away from Peter’s apartment, so that’s a good thing. Nearing her front door, Peter clears his throat once again before turning towards her.

“So, uh, I had fun,” Peter mumbles towards her, feeling his cheeks burning. He can’t even look at her, instead keeping his eyes on the floor. She has nice shoes, he notices.

“Yeah, me too,” MJ returns. Then she puts a hand on Peter’s cheek and leans forward, pressing her lips against his. As a complete mirror of earlier today, MJ’s kiss is soft and sweet instead of hard and insisting. Peter’s eyes close automatically, and his hand goes up to the back of her head. His fingers tangle in her messy curls. Gently, he’s pulling her closer to him.

It’s not just a quick press on the lips. Suddenly feeling a strong hunger inside of him, Peter deepens the kiss, not wanting to let go just yet. MJ doesn’t seem to complain. Her hands are on his chest slowly sliding up until they’re resting on the back of his neck. After a few more seconds of just heavily breathing against each other and their mouths pressed together, MJ is the one to pull back

“How there, cowboy,” she says with a chuckle, trying to get back to her breath. Peter, too, finds himself breathless. His eyes are still closed while his mind is trying to process what exactly just happened. Did he really just practically make out with MJ during their first kiss? In front of her house, where her parents live?

On the same evening he ended up in a lip-lock with Black Cat?

“I need to go,” Peter whispers out, feeling a strong wave of shame coming over him. His body’s feeling all weird, wanting and needing more while his brain is telling him that he shouldn’t. He needs to get back to the apartment, take a cool shower, study up a little? Maybe call Aunt May if she’s still up.

He needs to be away from _here_.

“Thanks for bringing me home,” MJ tells him, probably not having heard what Peter just said. She kisses him on the cheek one more time before turning her back to him and heading to her door. With a wink, she closes it behind her, leaving Peter on the porch with only his brain to keep him company.

He’s in so much shit, he realizes. And while he’s feeling guilty as hell about it, there’s also a part of him that finds this extremely thrilling.

Instead of going to sleep or making homework, he’s just back in the suit, swinging through the streets. He needs the distraction, needs the control that he gets with this suit, the idea of invincibility.

So Peter swings on and on, until very late in the night that it’s actually early again. And after that, he sleeps for two hours before getting ready for school.

That morning, when Johnny asks Peter if he’s finally together with MJ, he finally says ‘yes’.  


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter warnings:   
> \- kind of sexually confused Peter  
> \- Mention of past depression

Peter realizes he hasn’t been taking his medication about two weeks. For some reason, he’s been constantly so distracted that he actually kept on forgetting about it. Now, standing in the bathroom and finding the empty bottle of pills, he realizes he must have just forgotten about getting new ones.

That’s, of course, when he realizes that he’s not feeling bad. At all. He’s feeling great, in fact. Looking at his face in the mirror, he’s got a healthy color in his cheeks, no bags under his eyes. Despite feeling like he could use more sleep in the night – though, honest to Thor and all the other Gods, Peter went to sleep at nine in the evening yesterday so he’s had about twelve hours – his body is not giving him that wave of impending doom. When he wakes up, he jumps out of bed, embracing the new day. While normally he would snooze away on his alarm clock, now he’s up like it’s not that big of a deal. He even went for a jog that morning, for crying out loud!

There’s no class today. It’s Saturday, and this week-end it’s Tony-time again. So Peter packs his backpack, throws it over his shoulder and doesn’t bother to be quiet when he passes Johnny’s room. He’s not sure if the guy went out last night or not – it’s not like he’s out _all_ the time, obviously – but he’s such a heavy sleeper that Peter walking by with heavy footsteps would not wake him at all.

He debates about taking a cab or using the suit, but feeling the need to just be ‘normal’ for a moment, he decides to go with the first option. In his mind, he makes up a note to get some new pills at his new appointment to Dr. Thatch.

“Where to?” the cab driver asks when Peter gets in. It must be his lucky day, since normally it takes a while for a cab to actually stop for him.

“Stark Tower, please,” Peter tells the man, who then nods and starts up the meter. Peter looks outside, glad to see it’s a sunny day despite the rain that has been dropping down in the past week. Of course, the weather has not stopped him and MJ to just hang out once in a while. They went to the movies two days ago, and one evening they had some Chinese take-out and ate it in the living room of the apartment with Johnny who kind of invited himself along.

Things with MJ are good. In a way, it doesn’t feel like much has changed other than the fact that now they get to kiss once in a while. Peter tries not to let whatever took control the last time do that again, but that means once again that he has to restrain himself. Whenever his body gets those urges to just grab her and kiss the life out of her, he instead puts his hands on her hips and lets her do whatever she wants to do.

Luckily, they haven’t suggested a sleep-over already. Peter’s not sure he’s ready for that just yet.

Once the cab arrives at Stark Tower, Peter hands the driver the money – too much, and he’s not even bothering to stay to get his change back – and jumps out of the car. Whistling a happy tune, Peter walks up to Stark Tower with his hands in his pockets and a smile on his face. When he comes across Francis, he waves at him.

“Hey, dude!” Peter calls out. The man lowers his glasses – they’re reading glasses, not good for far-sight – and then starts smiling as well.

“Peter Parker! How about that! It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” Francis asks. The man had been Peter’s mentor for a while back when he first started his internship at Stark Industries. After getting into Tony’s radar, though, he started working at the Compound instead of the tower, thus getting Tony as a mentor instead – which had been the plan all along.

“Yeah, things are good,” Peter says with a shrug. “In college now, so life’s a bit busy.”

“Ah, lots of partying, I assume?” Francis asks with his arms crossed and an amused look on his face. Peter chuckles but shakes his head.

“Nah, went to maybe two parties so far? And it was only to get my roommate home. I tend to stay away from the alcohol,” Peter clarifies with a shrug. “So how about you? Your wife doing well?”

Francis smiles then, pulling out his phone and searching through some pictures before turning the device towards Peter. On the screen, the boy can see Francis and his wife, clearly in a hospital. In the wife’s arms there’s a tiny little baby covered in many blankets.

“Oh, you have a kid?” Peter asks, grinning from ear to ear.

“Yeah, a daughter. It’s a girl, we called her Zoey,” Francis says, looking proudly at the same picture before putting his phone away. Then he clears his throat and looks back at Peter. “Listen, it’s probably not any of my business, but Stark’s been treating you right, right?”

Peter snorts, but then he nods. “Of course,” he assures him. “He’s kinda like a Dad to me, now.” The jokes come out so easily, and luckily the man doesn’t seem to think further on it.

“Talking about that, you’ve been spending time with him, right? You ever met that mystery-kid of his? He and Captain America talked about it in this interview and everybody’s been wondering.”

Peter’s heart skips a beat, his mind going over the idea of just telling him the truth. Francis is a cool dude, he’ll surely not spread around the word that Peter Parker is Tony Stark’s long lost son, right? But, there’s already too many people that know. Peter shouldn’t do it. He puts his hands in his pockets and clears his throat.

“I’m sorry, I haven’t met the kid,” Peter says. Francis nods in understanding before taking a look at his watch.

“Listen, it’s been fun to catch up, but I’ve got a plane to catch. Stark Industries-business, you know how it goes… I’ll see you another time, yeah?”

Peter nods. “Sure, have a good flight.”

They say their goodbyes. Once Francis is out of the building, Peter gets to the elevator, scans in his card and just waits until the elevator goes all the way up to the penthouse. Looking up at the ceiling, he watches the numbers go up and up, counting the number of floors they’ve passed. Since Peter has the priority-pass, the elevator doesn’t make any more stops.

Entering the penthouse, it doesn’t feel like almost two weeks have gone by. Steve is lounging on the couch with his sketchbook on his lap. Next to him, there’s Tony who has his face planted behind his tablet. Peter drops his bag and puts his keys in their designated spot.

“Hi, dads,” Peter greets them. Steve looks up, giving Peter a wide smile. Tony doesn’t seem to react, meaning that he’s deep into whatever he’s currently working on.

“Hi son, welcome home,” Steve greets Peter warmly. After nearing him, Peter leans over his shoulder to see what he’s working on. On the paper, Steve seems to have put down a quite accurate version of the city-line of New York. It looks simple, but at the same time quite complex in other ways.

“What did I miss in the time I was gone?” Peter asks. He drops down on the couch next to Steve and pulls up the remote for the TV. Starting up his favorite channel, he sees that show about that Dutch vet is back on.

“Nothing much. Bruce and Tony have been trying to find out more about that meteor that destroyed the base,” Steve explains. “We’ve sent out some stuff to Princess Shuri and Dr. Richards as well, but even still the results are coming in slowly.”

“I could have a look if you want?” Peter offers.

“You can always try and take that tablet from Tony if you want to read up on it,” Steve offers. Peter ponders about that for a moment before shaking his head.

“Nah, don’t want to die this evening,” Peter shrugs. Then he takes a pillow from next to him and throws it on Tony, who drops the tablet on his face because of it.

“HEY!” Tony complains. Steve points towards Peter when the engineer leans up. Peter just gives him a wave. “Peter? You’re back?”

“Glad you noticed, Dad,” Peter jokes. “But now that I have your attention, there’s something I need to tell you guys.”

“What, the fact that you’ve got a girlfriend?” Tony asks dryly with a raised eyebrow, giving Peter a grin. Steve, too, snorts. “We heard from FRIDAY, who heard it from Karen. It’s not really a secret anymore.”

Peter’s mouth drops open before he closes it again, shaking his head quickly and giving them a glare.

“Fucking shit, I can never surprise you guys with anything,” he mutters bitterly, crossing his arms while turning his gaze back to the television.

“You watch your language, young man,” Steve says sternly while Tony rolls his eyes. He comes to sit up for a bit, reaching forward until he grabs the collar of Peter’s shirt. Pulling it downwards, he reveals a bit of Peter’s suit.

“Ah-hah! I knew it wasn’t bad lighting,” Tony calls out. “Why didn’t you tell me you were re-designing the suit? I could have pimped it red and gold for you!”

Peter looks down at what small bit he can see of his black suit. He then shrugs, not really intending to give it that much of his attention. So his suit is black? So what! Tony’s suits went from red and gold to red and silver for a while! It’s not that big of a deal, right?

“Red and gold is your style,” Peter counters. “Besides, you had any luck on that Tritium-case? What did Dr. Octavius do now?”

Tony shrugs, pulling up his tablet again before searching through it. Then, once he’s found it he turns it back around.

“He got a new delivery of it. Apparently Oscorp really wants him to finish his project,” Tony says, pulling up security footage of an Oscorp truck with Dr. Octavius guiding it inside. “I’ve been invited to the demonstration tomorrow morning, you know, for old time’s sake.”

Peter looks at the camera footage, seeing a man around probably Tony’s age, though still appearing older than him. He looks sympathetic, clearly very eager to continue his work.

“Can I come along?” he asks curiously. Tony then shrugs.

“If you want to, sure. Steve, you want to come, too?”

Steve looks a little pensive, clearly out of his debt here due to all the science they’re talking about. Peter knows that Steve has no idea what it’s all about. He gets points for trying to understand it, at least. Keeping up with Tony is just an unusual hard job that not everybody can do.

“I guess I could,” Steve returns with an uncertain smile. Tony pats him on the cheek a few times before pulling the tablet back out of Peter’s hand. Eventually he stands up to get to the kitchenette where he serves himself a glass of water. There’s still a limp in his steps, but the crutches are at least nowhere to be found.

“Peter, you’ve eaten already?” he asks. Peter nods.

“Yeah, I ate something on my way here,” he says. Tony nods, downing his glass in one go.

“Good. Say, king T’Challa is coming over Sunday as well. There was something political he needed to attend. But he’s bringing that sister of his along.”

Peter makes a ‘hell yes’-move when he hears it. He’s met Shuri a few times before during the Infinity War and enjoyed spending every moment with her. Not really in a romantic kind of way, either. She’s more like the super-smart cousin that loves to teach Peter stuff. The things he’s learned about nano-technology is incredible! Besides, she’s agreed to help out Rhodey with his back, though the soldier has still to hear about that fact.

Steve smiles fondly at him while Peter’s already pulling out his cellphone to send the girl a message. They don’t text each other, instead sending messages online. He wonders what weird gadget she’ll bring him this time!

“Now, if you all excuse me, I’m getting some work done in the workshop, alright?” Tony excuses himself. Before anybody else can respond, he’s already out of the door with his tablet under his arm. Peter catches the sad look on Steve’s face when he sees him go, and for a moment he wonders if they’ve been fighting. But Peter remembers how he’s found them here on the couch, so he figures they must be alright, no?

Steve sighs, putting down his sketchbook and instead grabbing the remote control to go through the channels for a little bit. Peter observes him for a few seconds, trying to figure out if there’s something actually wrong with him.

Steve talks before Peter even has to ask.

“He barely sleeps,” Steve admits, stopping the channel-surfing when he gets to the news. “He’s got nightmares and no matter how much we talk about them, they don’t stop.”

Peter lets out a long breath, wondering when they’ll ever just have a moment of quiet peace.

“What’s he dreaming about?” Peter asks, not sure if Steve knows.

“You, dying,” Steve admits. “He seems intent on keeping you safe. I’ve been carrying him out of the workshop every evening for the past week, he’s always working on something. I don’t know what else to do.”

Peter hums out in confusion, wondering why his father would have those kinds of nightmares? Peter’s fine, isn’t he? There has never been any indication that he’s in danger! He can take care of himself!

“So he’s freaking out about something again,” Peter states lowly. He wonders when his dad will finally understand that he’s not some hopeless little boy. Ever since the fight against Thanos, he’s been this way and it’s driving Peter nuts! Before that, he could at least go on patrol without having to call the guy when he starts and when he finishes.

Steve doesn’t say anything else, and Peter’s feeling a bit too unnerved to go and find Tony immediately. If he goes in this state, they might start shouting against each other again, and that’s not something Peter wants. Instead, the two of them sit in front of the TV and watch the news. There’s a coverage on New Asgard, something about the people of Norway responding to the sudden appearance of a whole civilization right next to them. Some are excited, while others are rather scared.

“Hilde went back to Asgard, didn’t she?” Peter asks, suddenly reminded of it. Steve nods.

“Yeah, she said she needed some time with her people again.”

Peter hums in understanding, watching the buildings of Asgard bloom up on the screen. It’s not like the golden civilization he’s read all about it – there’s not _that_ much gold on Earth for a group of people that has no money at all – but it looks impressive, nonetheless.

They talk some more about their specialties: there’s the Asgardian beer that’s hitting the market pretty soon, but also some delicious meals that chefs seem to be in love with. While the reportage goes on for a bit, there’s only a few short images showing Thor with Loki. Once or twice does Peter even see Yaël and her baby standing next to the trickster god. She’s been going and coming, agreeing that Raido needs Asgardian culture around him but also not wanting him to miss anything here in New York. Peter wonders what it must be, having a child with a Prince of a newly formed Kingdom.

He should text her probably.

There’s been discussion on going to New Asgard for a while now. Peter’s rather excited on going, wanting to see it all with his own two eyes. Apparently, there’s a little stand somewhere where they’ve put the remains of Mjölnir for the people to observe, and still nobody can pick up the pieces. Peter really wants to see that!

“You going on patrol tonight?” Steve asks. Peter shrugs.

“Sure, why not? You want to join?”

Steve hesitates for a moment before shaking his head.

“No, I should stay with Tony, make sure he doesn’t hurt himself,” Steve counters. Peter can understand that. He pulls his shirt off from over his head and loses his pants. Throwing his clothes over the couch, he pulls his mask out of the pockets of his hoodie.

“Alright, I’ll be back in a few hours,” Peter says. Steve nods.

“Be careful. Call us if you come across anything weird, alright?”

Peter holds up a thumb before getting out onto the balcony. Just some quiet crime-fighting for the weekend, it sounds relaxing. Peter lets out a happy sigh when he swings through the streets. If he’d been wearing no mask, the wind would have been chilling the skin of his face.

Some people are surprised when they see him. Suddenly swinging around in broad daylight, showing off his pitch-black suit gets some reaction out of them. People gape at him, jaws dropped and eyes open wide. Peter finds it kind of hilarious, but at the same time he wonders if they’ll like it. Could it be that they hate it? That would be a really big bummer.

He does the usual. There’s a mugger on the streets, hoping that he wouldn’t be too obvious. There’s a police chase that he helps along, getting a thumb’s up from the officer when they get the criminal in custody. Allowing the cops to take a selfie with him, Peter hurries off to the next case he finds. He shouldn’t be too surprised when, in the end, he drops back down on the roof with nothing more to do.

For a moment he wonders if the population of New York starts to realize that doing crime in here is a hopeless task given that it’s the home base of who knows how many superheroes? He _has_ noticed a lack of big crimes lately, often finding himself just chilling out on the roof with only Karen to keep him entertained.

Once again, Peter lies on his back, looking at the sky above him. His hands are under his head, Karen reading aloud a mail he’s received from Harry.

“ _Hi Peter. How are you doing? I hope you’re fine. Here in Paris it’s incredible. I already met this art-student who’s agreed to get coffee with me, and we’ll go and see the Eiffel tower tomorrow. Not that I don’t already have done that a hundred times, but it’s always better with good company. You should come, too. I’m sure you’ll like it here._

“ _I’ll bring you a longer update in the next message. I’m actually about ready to head to bed, just had a long, long day. But tell me, how’s college? And having Johnny as a roommate, is that going alright? Isn’t he too annoying? Or has he brought home many women already?_

“ _Let me know. I’ll talk to you soon._

_“Harry_.”

Peter sighs, for a moment wishing he would just have gone to Paris with him. He misses hanging out with Harry lately. Not that Johnny isn’t good company, but there’s not really anybody there who knows him from since he was a kid. Harry knew Uncle Ben, talked to him. Harry even remembers Peter’s parents a little bit. The others only met him afterwards. They’re good friends, too, but sometimes, Peter just needs that piece of the past with him.

“My my, I think I’ve found our regular meeting spot,” somebody says behind him. Peter groans, rolling his eyes and turning his head slightly to see the Black Cat walking up to him.

“No way, are you stalking me, lady?” Peter asks, annoyed. He can’t really describe what happened the last time they were together, but it’s not something he wishes to repeat. Or, he thinks so. His body’s very much in disagreement with his mind about that part, he realizes when his heart skips a beat upon seeing her.

“Of course not, you’re just easy to find sugar,” Cat says with a wide smirk, coming to sit down on the ground next to him, close enough that her thigh presses up against his. Peter doesn’t move from his spot on the ground, but with the sun in his eyes he has trouble seeing the girl on his left. Through the beams of sunlight, he can see her binding her hair together, moving in such a graceful way that for a moment he wonders if she’s ever been a ballerina in the past.

It takes him a few seconds to realize she’s actually moving like a cat would.

“Yeah, well, uh, you better keep your hands to yourself this time,” Peter warns her.

“What, I thought you liked it?” the girl asks playfully through her grin. “You were very much a willing participant, after all.”

Peter rolls his eyes again before closing them once more, trying to enjoy the moment of peace.

“How about this,” the Cat then asks. Peter frowns, already regretting choosing this roof. “Next time you go crime-fighting, I’ll join you. Is that a good idea?”

“Uh, aren’t you a criminal yourself?” Peter asks. Finally he sits back up, turning towards her to give her a good look. Cat sits there, hunched forward a little bit and giving Peter a very good view of her cleavage. In all politeness, he very much keeps his eyes from that particular area.

“Depends on who’s paying,” she says seductively, reaching out a hand and putting it on Peter’s cheek. Then, without a warning she pulls his head up again. “My eyes are up here, hotshot.”

Oh, crap, he was looking down without realizing, was he?

“Listen, I don’t know what you want, but-“

“Simple, I want you,” the Cat returns. “I’ve been observing you, keeping an eye on you. You’re a good person, always trying to help people. And next to that, you’re smoking hot.”

“You’ve never even seen me,” Peter counters. A bit out of his comfort zone, he gets back onto his feet and wipes off the invisible dust off his suit. Then he clears his throat, looking back down at her. Don’t look at her breasts, don’t look at her breasts.

Crap, he’s looking at her breasts again.

Peter turns around until his back is facing her. On the corner of his visor he sees that it’s almost two in the afternoon. He should head home to get ready for the demonstration of Dr. Octavius’ project.

“I, uh, I need to go,” Peter says. He’s not even sure if she just said something or not, since all he’s thinking about is getting away from here as quickly as possible. So soon into his relationship with MJ he doesn’t really want to go down this road. Not ever, actually. No way, he’s not a cheater!

Though this Cat really _is_ hot.

_Get your head in the game_! Peter thinks to himself, slapping his skull a couple of times. He’s never really been a person who expresses a lot of sexual interest. So far it’s always been limited to Gwen, and even with MJ he’s never particularly thought about her in that way. Sure, the medication he used to take could give him some… urges… but they always stood separate from attraction. If he would have been drunk, he would have done it with _anybody_ , so to say. That declares his past one-night-stand after that party last year.

So he wonders why now, suddenly, his body seems to react like this. Like he’s attracted to this girl right here, while in his whole heart he knows he wants to be with MJ. Maybe he should just go on a date with her, spend more time with her. Forget about this Cat and actually _be_ in a relationship with MJ!

Without saying goodbye, Peter jumps off the roof. He figures she might find a way to keep him distracted, and Peter really doesn’t want that. He hears her shout something to him in the background, but he doesn’t hear it. Instead he swings his way back to Stark Tower, making sure that he’s not followed.

Using some precaution now that he knows that the Cat has been observing him in the past, he makes sure that she doesn’t see him enter the tower, using the underground parking that brings him to the penthouse through the private elevator.

He shrugs out of the suit in the elevator. Given that it’s the private one, there’s no chance of him coming across anybody while standing there in his underwear. Rolling the suit up into a tight ball, he looks up at the ceiling, watching the numbers go up and up, slowly but surely reaching the floor of the penthouse.

The only problem is the elevator stopping too early. That’s not supposed to happen, right? Peter frowns, hesitating on putting the suit back on quickly but realizing he’s out of time to do so. The doors of the elevator open, revealing Clint and Sam in the middle of a discussion on aerodynamics, maybe. The moment they see Peter, they stop talking. Eyes widened, they stand in the opening of the elevator, preventing it from closing.

Right, Peter forgot that the floors underneath them are now inhabited and are also part of the private elevator.

This is awkward.

“Mini-Stark, why are you standing in the elevator in your boxers?” Clint asks, blinking a few times. Sam tilts his head a bit to the side.

Peter clears his throat.

“I kinda forgot you guys can take this elevator?” he tries awkwardly, keeping his hands behind his back. The two men blink one more time before shrugging and at last entering. When the door of the elevator closes behind them, it’s none too soon.

Of course, it’s just his luck when the elevator makes a stop on Wanda’s floor. And then on Vision’s floor. And then Natasha and Bucky’s floor. Of course, let’s not forget Bruce’s floor, either.

Peter’s almost literally a tomato when the elevator finally makes a stop at the penthouse, where apparently all of the Avengers present in the tower have decided to make their visit. Is there a mission? Is it just a social visit? Peter has no idea. He all but sprints out of the elevator with his suit still in his hands to escape from the eternal eyes of confusion. Coming across both Tony and Steve makes it even worse. He lets out a yelp and a shriek, not bothering to stay and listen to their surprised question of ‘What are you doing?!’ before he jumps into his bedroom and all but throws himself at his closet.

“Oh mighty clothes, I will never, ever take you for granted again, this I promise,” Peter mutters to his clothing once he takes a couple of pieces into his hands. Taking out a white shirt and a dark grey coat to put above it, he drops them on his bed before grabbing a pair of dark jeans. He figures that, for the demonstration, he shouldn’t just come appearing there in his usual hoodie, after all.

After having chosen his outfit, he hurries to the bathroom to start up the shower. He’s not particularly sweaty or anything, but he would like being a bit fresh for the occasion. Besides, his hair is a real mess after MJ spent the evening making small braids into them and Peter spent the whole morning undoing them.

Peter pours probably way too much shampoo into his hair. Passing the soap over his body, he comes across his scar on his lower belly for a short moment. While the drops of water fall onto his face, he looks down to give it a view. It seems so long ago when Harry snatched Peter out of the sky and impaled him through some sort of metal pin on a building. No matter how crappy that situation was, it did help him and Tony forward.

Feeling on his back, there’s the entry-wound of the impalement. The one on his belly was the exit. The pin had ruptured his spleen, causing for him to almost bleed to death. Luckily Dr. Cho got him out of that situation with her incredible medical skills. When she offered to use the cradle to get rid of the scars, Peter even stopped her. He doesn’t mind the reminder of the thing that brought him to where he is now.

Besides, people who don’t know about him being Spider-Man could notice the lack of scar and start asking questions. They all saw him being impaled on the video somebody felt the need to share on the internet.

Peter lets out a sigh, once again wondering how Harry’s doing right now. What time is it in Paris? Is it day? Probably not, right? Maybe it’s night? But Harry’s surely not sleeping yet, obviously out with friends, maybe a few girls. Peter knows Harry isn’t one to shy away from the pleasures of the flesh.

And that thought leads him back to the Black Cat. What is it she wants from him? Does she want… she couldn’t want to just sleep with him, right? She doesn’t even know him, nor know what he looks like! She just wants to know him better so she can outsmart him. That’s probably it.

Though, given the tingly feeling he’s getting in his body, he realizes he wouldn’t mind too much if she would be genuinely interested. A heavy breath escapes his mouth as he thinks of her almost-white hair and the way it falls over her shoulders. Or those full lips, accentuated with that bright red lip-gloss that had been rubbed out on his only a bit ago.

Oh, Peter remembers that kiss. He lets out another shaky breath while he leans against the tiles of the wall, his forehead pressed against them while his mind brings him back to memory-lane.

“Peter, hurry up! We’re going to have to leave soon!”

Damn it, what’s wrong with him? Why does his mind keep on going that direction all the time?! He’s with MJ for crying out loud! He cares about her, not about some masked lady dressed up like a cat and showing her cleavage with every chance she’s got!

“Yeah, uh, yeah! I’m coming!” he shouts, though his voice is shaky. Once he notices where his hand is, he snatches it back up, almost as if it’s just been burned. His face is warm. His eyes looking at his hand as if it personally betrayed him. He’s angry with himself, for giving in so easily on something he can’t describe. He’s never felt _anything_ like this before, and to be honest it scares him a bit.

 

 


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because writing gets a bit better these days, I'm posting an extra chapter!   
> Enjoy!   
> Chapter warnings:  
> \- Bratty Peter  
> \- Dialogue that I've taken from Spider-Man 2 (the Otto Octavius scenes especially)  
> \- Doc Oc   
> \- arguments  
> \- Tony having slight flashbacks to the Infinity War (will escalate a bit in the next chapter)

Tony can see on Peter’s face that there’s something bothering him when he gets out of his bedroom. He figures it’s probably that sudden Avengers-meeting in the elevator that surely caught him off guard. And for what reason, even? They all just simultaneously decided to come up and watch some TV together? Do they need group-activities _that_ much?

Steve entertained them for twenty minutes or so. They couldn’t give them more. Tony called out for Peter, Steve guided the Avengers back to the elevator and promised they’ll do some group-activity tonight. Bruce stays, though. He’s shown interest in coming to Octavius’ demonstration, and Tony figures it wouldn’t hurt that much if he would tag along.

Glad that Peter remembered to dress for the occasion, Tony guides his three companions out of the penthouse and into the elevator Steve just dumped all of the Avengers in. Steve is quiet, probably wondering what he agreed to join in to. Peter’s face is still red, for some reason making the boy appear very uncomfortable. Bruce, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to catch the awkward silence. He discusses some of Octavius’ older projects he remembers.

Now, to be honest, Tony can’t remember Otto that much. Sure, they went to the same school together, but let’s face it, Tony was never really sober most of the classes they’d shared. He remembers Otto saying something about clean energy, but that’s about it. He would have thought Otto would have let it go since Tony has Arc Reactor energy already taking care of that.

“I heard his mother passed away a while back, and that it messed him up a lot,” Bruce says after a while, surprising Tony. To be honest, he hasn’t really been keeping taps on the lives of his old friends from college other than Rhodey. Besides, it’s not like Otto has ever really been considered Tony’s _friend_ , since Tony never really spent any time with anybody other than Rhodey at college.

“That’s too bad,” Steve says, that being the first thing coming out of his mouth since they’ve exited the Penthouse. Tony doesn’t respond, not knowing what to say to it exactly. They get out of the elevator to walk towards one of Tony’s cars. There’s no debate on who sits where. Bruce takes a seat in the back, next to Peter, while Steve sits down in the passenger seat next to Tony. After he’s driven the car out of the garage, Tony takes Steve’s hand into his own and just holds it during the drive.

There’s the usual traffic. It’s why Tony wanted to leave early enough. He might be Iron Man, and he might be stinking rich, but even he can’t just bypass all the cars on the road. He’s aware of Bruce talking to Peter about school. The guy is interested in what Peter is seeing in his classes. With it being biochemistry, Tony isn’t too savvy on the subject. Maybe he should read up on it, no? He learns rather quick. It might be good for him to actually _know_ what his son is learning about.

“Looks like there’s some sort of food festival over there,” Steve notices, looking at somewhere on his right. “We could go there afterwards? Just… hanging out for a bit instead of heading back home immediately?”

Tony hums in agreement, lifting Steve’s hand towards his lips to press a kiss on his knuckles. With a quick glance to the street name, he memorizes where the festival is so they’ll find it again afterwards.

Tony feels weird, having to park his car in the street like this. Before he can get out of the car to pay for a parking ticket, Steve’s already on the job. That stubborn bastard. Tony smiles slightly while looking down to the ground, still not really able to grasp how lucky he is to have Steve.

Peter’s stretching his limbs the moment he walks out. Bruce takes a look at his cellphone and clears his throat after a few coughs. Is he getting sick? Or did he just accidentally choke on his own spit? Tony does that sometimes, and it’s really just the worst.

When Steve returns, he holds up a small white piece of paper that indicates they’re allowed to stay here inside a specific amount of time. Steve puts it on the dashboard before closing the car. After making sure it’s locked, Tony allows for Steve to take his hand again. They start walking towards the large building that counts as Otto’s workshop and house at the same time, though if Tony has to believe Peter’s description, it’s probably more workshop than house.

They’re greeted by a lovely woman when the door opens. She introduces herself as Rosie Octavius, so Tony figures she must be his wife.

“You can just come inside, head on upstairs, help yourself to some drinks. It’s all for the taking,” Rosie says while pointing inside. Steve thanks her and the four of them walk inside. Peter has been here before, but for Bruce, Steve and Tony it’s all new.

To describe the building is a difficult task. From the outside, it looks like an old, red building, seemingly an apartment-block that doesn’t ask for too much rent. The main floor must be Otto’s living quarters, Tony’s not too sure. It’s the first floor where they’re supposed to be. It’s like a gigantic studio, its walls covered in nothing but windows, and from the ceiling hanging over twenty lights. The table with the drinks and foods is on some sort of stage. A couple of people are already standing there.

While he loses Bruce almost instantly after they walk inside – the guy sees some people he hasn’t seen in a long while – both Steve and Peter stay by his side the entire time. With his hand still holding on to Steve’s, it’s not that hard to lose him. Peter, on the other hand, looks a bit like he’s out of his comfort zone. The people that are here are clearly businessmen. Tony recognizes most of them from past interactions during important parties. All dressed up in fancy suits or skirts, Tony’s glad they’ve decided to dress up for the occasion.

He notices Otto almost immediately, dressed in a light grey uniform that matches Rosie’s coat. The woman comes Otto’s way and kisses him on the cheek. After she tells him something, Otto turns around to where Tony is standing, suddenly smiling widely.

“Tony,” he says, walking up to him and holding out his hand for him to shake. Tony accepts it, but lets go of Steve’s in the process. “It’s been a while, how are you doing?”

“I’m doing fine,” Tony says. What else would he say to somebody he hasn’t really spoken to in so many years? That he’s having the worst panic attacks about his son dying again and again? Yeah, no, probably not such a good idea, really. “How are you?”

“I’m wonderful,” Otto responds, looking fondly at his wife before turning towards Steve and Peter and holding out his hand to them respectively as well.

“This is Steve,” Tony introduces him. ‘Though I’m sure you know who he is.”

Otto smiles, and so does Steve, not even showing how out of place he’s really feeling right here.

“It’s nice to meet you, Steve,” Otto greets him. Steve nods, though before he can say something Otto has already pulled back and turned towards Peter to give him his handshake. Peter looks a bit confused about everything. “And you must be the son then, am I correct?”

Peter’s mouth falls open as he fails to find a response. Tony clears his throat.

“Uh, this is Peter, my intern. I invited him along for educational reasons, you see,” he says loud enough for other people to hear. Peter sags a bit in relief after that, shaking Otto’s hand with a smile that accentuates he’s less uncomfortable now.

“Tony’s intern? You must be a big deal, then, since I’ve never heard of Tony getting an intern,” Otto says, clearly surprised.

“He’s the smartest kid in his class,” Tony adds proudly. He’s aware of Peter rolling his eyes in embarrassment, but it’s fun to tease him. After that, Tony clears his throat and turns towards Steve. “Honey, I’m getting drinks, do you want anything?”

Steve smiles back at him. “Just a coffee, please,” he says.

“I want a coke!” Peter adds in. Tony holds his thumb up before walking towards the table where the drinks are served. When he sees Otto starting a conversation with Peter, he feels that usual paternal pride he always has around his son.

Tony talks to a few people, though not recognizing all of them if he’s really honest. Some of them he’s aware they were in school together, but either Tony was too young to remember, or he was too drunk. There’s no in-between, really. He introduces Steve and Peter, lets them shake people’s hands. When he’s greeted by a few members of Oscorp’s board, he’s reminded of who funded this whole project.

By the time Bruce has rejoined them again, Otto starts calling people together. The crowd comes to stand in front of where Otto’s standing. Looking at him curiously, everybody waits to see what he’s made, and even Tony wants to know how exactly the guy is going to include tritium in his self-sustaining energy.

Behind Otto stands his wife, looking at him with pride in her eyes. Even Tony can see that they love each other very much, and almost out of reflex he leans to the side until he’s leaning against Steve, who in turn silently grabs his hand again.

Otto starts his presentation with a joke. It’s horrible, yet people still laugh because of the suddenness of it. Even Tony realizes he has a small grin on his face, and he’s happy to see Peter smile as well. He gives him a small poke on the side to catch his attention, holding up his thumb while looking at him questioningly.

Peter nods, holding his thumb up as well. He’s fine.

“Thank you all for coming,” Otto finally stands, clasping his hands together, looking a bit nervous while he speaks. “Today you will witness the birth of a new fusion-based energy source.”

The people listens while he explains what exactly he’s going to make. While Tony knows that his arc reactor-energy makes clean energy, it’s in no way free, sadly. Apparently, Otto seems to want to change that.

For some reason, though, Otto seems to want to use an AI to help him along. And while Tony is all for AI’s (If JARVIS, FRIDAY and Karen aren’t enough clarification for that), he never really trusts them with other people. His heart skips a quick beat, a sudden worry coming over him.

Why does Otto _need_ four artificial robotic arms to help him out, here?

Tony has to admit that Otto keeps on standing strong while the needles insert themselves into his spine. People around him start cringing, almost as if they’re feeling the pain instead of him. Steve, too, shudders for a moment before turning towards Tony.

“Is this a good idea?” he whispers towards him. Tony shrugs.

“I don’t know,” he returns. Steve squeezes his hand. Meanwhile, Peter takes another curious step forward to get a better look of the four robotic arms that are apparently now linked into Otto’s mind. When he manages to lift them all up with just a thought, everybody lets out a relieved sigh, looking impressed by what he’s just achieved. Despite that, Tony still feels uneasy about it.

“These smart arms are controlled by my brain through a neuro-link,” Otto explains while letting the arms dance around a bit above his head. “Nanowires feed directly into my cerebellum, allowing me to use these arms to control the fusion reaction in an environment no human hand could ever.”

“Sounds complicated,” Steve mumbles, impressed by it all. Tony shrugs.

“Eh, it’s not _that_ hard,” he returns. Steve rolls his eyes but gives him a smirk nonetheless.

“Dr., if the artificial intelligence in the arms is as advanced as you suggest, couldn’t that make _you_ vulnerable to them?” a woman asks. Otto seems to have expected the question, though, if his smile is any indication of it.

“Oh, right you are,” Otto says, suddenly his eyes meeting Tony’s and giving him a playful smirk. Tony had forgotten how happy Otto always used to be back in college, being pretty chipper for a guy who had nothing in his life left but a mother who didn’t even want him to pursue science. And while Otto starts explaining the chip on the back of his neck, the thing preventing for the AI to take control, Tony likes it even less.

He clears his throat and turns to look back at Steve. For a moment he regrets not taking the shield along. Or the suit. He even wonders if Peter is wearing his right now.

Though, for some reason it looks like it’s working. Otto uses the claws to take the tritium out of the box. When Peter takes another step forward to see better, Tony pulls him back. The tritium causes a reaction, building up energy. When it’s finished, Otto turns around, proudly. The people start clapping, clearly impressed with what just happened. In the middle of the machine, hovering into the air, there’s something that looks like a miniature sun.

Using the claws, Otto keeps the reaction in check.

“The power of the sun in the palm of my hand,” Tony hears him mutter. He frowns for a second, wondering why the guy is talking to himself. But he can recall that Otto’s always been a bit… labile. People often mistook Tony as a mad scientist, while he’s only just very eccentric. Otto, on the other hand, is coming closer to the description. With all the troubles he’s had with his mother in the past, as far as Tony can recall, he’s never really been stable mentally.

And that’s when it happens. At first when all the lights on the ceiling start leaning towards the source. Otto starts typing something on the computer. In the corner of his eyes, Tony can see Peter looking up in surprise, as well. All the women’s jewels start flying off. Their supposedly gold necklaces fly right into the reaction as if a big magnet pulled them along. It’s quickly followed by people’s watches. When Tony’s watch, which contains the gauntlet, comes flying off as well, he figures it’s enough.

“Stay calm! It’s only a spike, it’ll soon stabilize!” Otto shouts, holding up a hand to stop everybody. People start muttering in fear, clearly unsettled about it. The crowd takes their steps back, distancing themselves from the source of the panic. An alarm starts ringing right when metal plates are being pulled from the wall.

 _System Unstable_ , it says.

“We have a containment breach!” a person shouts.

A flare spikes up, out of the miniature sun. Hitting the ceiling, rocks start dropping down on the floor, only barely missing some people.

“Otto, shut it down!” Tony calls out.

“It’ll stabilize, it’s all under control!” Otto shouts back.

“Are you crazy?!” Tony shouts back, only to suddenly be pulled away by something. On the spot where he was just standing, a metal desk comes flying by, only barely missing him. Looking at the person that got him out of that situation, he’s faced with Peter who is looking at him worriedly.

“Are you alright?” Peter asks like the polite boy he is.

“You are so getting a higher allowance,” Tony breathes out, pulling him into his arms for a few short seconds before pulling away again. “Get to safety.”

“No way, I can help,” Peter counters, already walking back to some more people that need his help. In the back. A man on the ground starts screaming as his leg seems to be pulled along while other people try to keep him back. He probably has some form of metal pin put into his leg after a fracture, while normally these things aren’t supposed to be attracted by magnets. That must mean this thing is strong as fuck. The man gets pulled into safety when Steve picks him up and carries him away through the pull of the magnetism.

Tony starts to make his way to Otto, only to see his wife is doing the same thing. She grabs Otto’s shoulder, telling him something Tony can’t hear. Otto turns around, suddenly confused. He hadn’t realized what was going on. As he turns, something seems to hit him in the back, causing for him to lose his balance and fall forward on his face. He doesn’t move after that, his wife starting to shake him.

“Peter, get out of here!” Tony shouts when he catches Peter pulling off a few stones from somebody’s trapped leg. The boy shakes his head, pulling off his clothes and revealing his black suit underneath the moment the guy limps away. Before Tony can stop him, he’s already heading towards Otto’s invention.

But, wait… Peter’s suit, the tech of it is _full_ of small bits of metal? Why isn’t it being pulled along then, as well?

“Tony, you need to get out of here!” Steve suddenly shouts. Tony hadn’t heard him come back.

“But Peter!” Tony protests. Next to them, another desk gets pulled along, dragging a poor man along with it. There’s a loud shout as it flies into the source. As Tony takes a good look around, he realizes that’s not the first victim this afternoon.

“I’ll take care of Peter, just get to safety!” Steve shouts back, literally pushing Tony towards the door. With the small bits of metal in Tony’s clothes slowing him down, he obeys for a few seconds before stopping to turn back around. He sees Steve walking to Rosie, asking her something. Peter jumps up to the ceiling and seems to get Otto’s attention.

“What are you doing?!” the scientist asks, sounding angry all of the sudden. Peter, who is looking at the cables connected to the device, is too close to the thing for Tony’s taste. He’d rather have him far away from it.

“I’m pulling the plug!” Peter then says, jumping down only to have one of Otto’s robotic arms smack him across the room to stop him. With a loud noise, Peter lands against the wall in a clearly painful way. When he doesn’t get up immediately, Tony’s heart stops for a second.

 _Not again_ , he thinks to himself. Then he starts running towards his son, who is finally moving a bit. At least that’s a sign of life. It’s at least a _bit_ of relief for Tony. There’s more noise behind Tony, but he ignores it as he takes a look at his son.

“Peter?” Tony asks, already pulling Peter’s mask off. The kid groans, kicking the debris that has fallen on him away and coughing painfully.

“Ow, that was a hard kick,” Peter complains.

“Let’s get you out,” Tony returns. He moves to pick Peter back up, but right as he starts moving, a woman starts screaming behind him. Startled, Tony turns around to figure out what’s happening. There, he sees Steve running towards something. There’s blood on the ground, glass scattered around them all. Even from where Tony is seated he can see the red spots on Steve’s clothes. Whatever just happened, Steve got hit.

Otto finally turns around, distracted by his wife’s shout of distress. Peter scrambles back up, pulling Tony along.

“Come on, we need to take those cables out!” Peter tells Tony. Otto screams as well, as if something is hurting him. Tony doesn’t have time to listen, instead grabbing one of the cables Peter pointed at and pulling along with him. When he doesn’t seem to have much success, Steve finally joins in and helps Tony along. Sparks come flying, burning Tony’s hands on some spots. He grits out in pain, but doesn’t say anything.

By the time they’ve practically pulled out the entire wall, The reaction implodes. Peter grabs both Steve and Tony and swings them out through a broken window to avoid the flames that come up before they’re sucked back inside. The three of them are outside when all the noise has died down.

Catching their breath, nobody says anything. Peter is already wearing his mask again, leaning forward with a hand on his stomach. Giving it a quick look, Tony notes that there’s nothing to be seen on the suit. But bruises can always hide underneath.

“Peter, Tony, are you alright?” Steve asks, a bit breathless. The two are still breathing heavily. Tony gives Steve a quick look, once again noticing the dark red spots on his shirt. Immediately he reaches out for him, opening the buttons of his shirt and looking over the wounds on his chest.

“Oh, honey, you have shards in your body,” Tony notices, counting at least three shards that are stuck through his skin into his belly. Steve squeezes his eyes painfully.

“I’m fine, Helen can look it over, remember?” Steve says tiredly. Tony shakes his head, turning Steve around in search for more. In Steve’s arms there are a few more shards as well. At least nothing in the face. He’s pretty sure that, while Steve can heal from most things, blindness isn’t really one of those.

Sirens are heard in the background. The fire-department, police, ambulance… who-ever it is, Tony is not planning on sticking around. He comes back to his feet, grabbing Steve by the shirt and slightly pulling on it. With his free arm, he makes a movement towards Peter as an indication that he needs to follow.

Limping and bleeding, the three of them make their way back to the car where they drive away without saying another word. That evening, when they’re watching the news feed about it, they learn that Otto has been found alive, but in a coma. As for the metal arms, Tony hopes that they’ll just get rid of it, afraid of what they could do in the wrong hands.

 

* * *

 

 

Peter is lying in bed, right about ready to go to sleep, when his cellphone goes off.

Now, it’s not even that late. The sun is probably still up, and they haven’t even had dinner yet, but it doesn’t seem to matter. Because Peter has his hands resting on his painful stomach, carefully avoiding his bruised ribs and not breathing too hard to keep the pain under control. He’s only just finished his call with MJ, affirming another date for tomorrow. Or, date… it’s a big word. They’re just going to serve food to the homeless again.

And now his phone goes off again. Peter groans while he reaches for the side, gritting his teeth together when another sting passes through him. He hadn’t expected Dr. Octavius’ claws to be so strong.

“’llo?” Peter asks curtly, knowing that his discomfort might be obvious through the line of the phone. He doesn’t care.

 _“Peter! It’s Felicia! I came across Johnny at a party and he passed along your number!”_ Felicia’s familiar voice says through the other side of the line. Peter rubs his eyes, only wishing for one moment that this girl wouldn’t be trying so hard to be his friend.

“Oh, hey Felicia. What’s up?” he asks.

“ _Nothing really. I was just wondering if you have something to do tomorrow? I have a free day off work and thought we could hang out? Maybe do something with MJ and Johnny?”_

Peter lets out a long breath and rubs his eyes again.

“Yeah, uh, sounds cool,” Peter says, only then remembering his current date with MJ tomorrow. “Or, shit, no, MJ and I are already hanging out tomorrow. We’re feeding the homeless at the shelter back in Queens.”

“ _Oh, maybe Johnny and I can join? I mean, I can’t assume for Johnny of course. I just don’t want to spend my Sunday evening alone, you see?”_

Peter doesn’t see, but that’s probably because he’s beat and about ready to fall asleep on the spot. He doesn’t say anything about it, either, instead throwing his legs over the side of the bed (carefully) and heading towards the bathroom where he starts up a shower.

“Listen, how about I’ll ask MJ and I’ll let you know, alright?” Peter suggests then. He’s sure MJ wouldn’t mind as they’re just going to feed the homeless, but he would rather just ask her instead of just bringing along a random girl she hasn’t ever really properly spoken to.

“ _Sure, I’ll hear from you, then!”_ And Felicia hangs up after that. With the shower hot and finally out of his clothes for the second time today, Peter walks into the shower. Only this time, his limbs give up on him and instead of standing, he sits down on the floor, letting the water hit him on the back. The drops roll into his eyes, all over his face, but he doesn’t mind.

He’s just tired, beat. Ready to head for the land of the dreams for a few hours. Away from consciousness.

“Peter, are you alright?” somebody asks all of the sudden. There’s a knocking on the door following Steve’s voice from the other room.

“Yeah, I’m alright,” Peter assures him. He can’t see Steve react to it.

“Well, uh, when you’re out of the shower, you mind coming to the living room for a moment? Your dad and I want to talk to you.”

“Uh, sure thing,” Peter responds. He waits for Steve to close the door again before he puts his head on his knees. He knows he’s going to get it now. With Tony’s constant fear over Peter getting hurt, he’s sure he’s going to get another speech from him, about him being uncareful.

Well, better get this show on the road. With a painful grunt he gets himself off the ground. He hasn’t even soaped himself in, and he already walks out, throwing a towel over himself while giving his reflection in the mirror a look. Surprised by his bruised appearance, he wonders how he’s going to explain this to MJ tomorrow if it doesn’t go away in time.

Slowly, he gets dressed into loose clothing and gets out of the bathroom. With a heavy heart, he heads to the living room. One short look at his dad standing in front of the window is enough to tell Peter that the guy is about ready to flip out on him.

Peter clears his throat, announcing his arrival. Tony turns around so fast Peter’s sure he could have broken his neck. Steve, who is in the kitchenette, drops down his towel and leans against the counter with his arms crossed.

“Uh, you guys wanted to talk?” Peter asks.

“Yeah, just sit down for a moment, Petey,” Steve tells him, nodding towards the couch. He notices Steve giving Tony a long look. With a lump stuck in his throat, he sits down on his assigned seat and takes a deep breath.

“Listen, if this is about what happened earlier; people were getting hurt, I couldn’t just stand by and do nothing ab-“ Peter starts.

“Uh uh uh!” Tony suddenly starts, holding out a finger with red all over his face. As he marches towards Peter, Steve pushes himself off the counter to get to his partner. “You’re not talking this time.”

“But dad,” Peter complains.

“No!”

Peter presses his lips together, wondering why suddenly Tony is reacting like this?

“Tony, calm down,” Steve comes in, putting a hand on Tony’s shoulder to pull him back a bit. In return, Tony turns around and pulls away from him.

“No! I’m not calming down! The only reason you’re not freaking out is because you were too busy with Otto’s wife to realize Peter had been knocked out to the point where he wouldn’t _move_ , Steve!”

“Tony, I know,” Steve starts, holding up his hands in surrender. “I know you were startled, but you’re out of control.”

“OUT OF CONTROL?!”

“Guys,” Peter interrupts them. “I know I scared the shit out of you.”

“Language, Peter,” Steve adds with an annoyed face. Peter ignores him.

“There was stuff happening, people were getting hurt and I couldn’t just run out like you wanted me to. I had to stop him before people got hurt!”

“And what if _you_ got hurt?” Tony hisses at him. “Do you have any idea what it would have done to me?”

Peter gives Tony a long, angry look. He has a nasty feeling in his stomach, his hands balling up into fists. His heart makes a few jumps, making him want to crawl out of his skin and shout out into the world.

“You’re such a hypocrite,” Peter bites out. Finally, confused, Tony’s angry look disappears and makes place for one of confusion. “You two, you go out on life-threatening missions even more than I do! Last time you ended up in the hospital! You didn’t see me cause a scene after that!”

“I beg your pardon?! You did cause a goddamn scene in case you forgot! All the time you want to be considered an Avenger, and when you get your orders you don’t want to listen to them because you’re not an Avenger anyway?!”

“That’s because you’re all treating me like a kid!”

“You _are_ a kid! You only turned eighteen three months ago, Peter!” Tony’s face is now completely red. Steve seems to have given up on trying to calm him down.

“Peter, I know you’re only doing what you think is right, but we just want you to pick your battles wisely,” Steve tries to bring down the situation.

“Pick my battles wisely? Did you guys get to choose in the invasion? Did you guys get too choose when Thanos arrived on Earth? I didn’t see you guys _choosing your battles_ back then!”

“The situation didn’t-“

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!” Peter feels his whole body shaking.

“Peter Benjamin Parker-Stark, you better lower the volume,” Tony hisses at him angrily.

“NO WAY!” Peter jumps up off the couch, heading back towards the hallway. “Screw you! I was able to handle my own for almost two whole fucking years without you two treating me like a baby.”

“Peter, where are you going?” Steve asks.

“To my room!” he returns.

“Peter we are not finished talking!” Tony calls out. Peter huffs out an annoyed laugh.

“Like hell we aren’t!”

Peter storms into the hallway, throwing the door of his room shut behind him.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure if people are actually enjoying this story, but I'll keep on updating anyway. To be fair, writing's been pretty rough lately because for some reason I've been feeling... low. I keep on writing because I want to finish the story, but I just hope I don't start lagging behind on my chapters. I'm sorry if my 'sadness' is too obvious in everything that's happening in this sequel. I don't even have a good reason to BE sad, which makes it even ten times worse.  
> Holy crap, listen to me complain to you all. I'm sorry, let's just begin with the chapter!  
> Chapter warnings:  
> \- Arguments  
> \- Tony being stupid  
> \- Peter being stupid  
> \- Flash?  
> \- A bit of homophobic behavior  
> \- Mentions of Gwen  
> \- Random Jessica Jones at an unfortunate moment

They’re arguing again. Peter can hear it through his door, hear them shout at each other. Usually it’s about stupid things; who left the toilet seat up, who forgot to hang up the laundry… It’s always something silly like that.

This time, Peter knows it’s not that. All too aware that _he’s_ the reason they’re arguing, he rolls his eyes and lies down on the bed. With evening falling, he doesn’t expect he’ll be leaving his bedroom again until the two of them have gone to bed. _If_ they’re going to bed together. It might also be that Tony kicks Steve out, or Steve will just sleep on Bruce’s floor to cool off. Or he’ll be training the anger off.

All caught up with his tv-show, Peter slaps his laptop shut and lets out a long sigh. He needs to do something _now_ , or he’ll be going crazy. He’s never been one to just sit in his room for too long, other than to sleep. He’s way to restless a person for that.

His phone vibrates in his pocket. He sighs, fishing it out and giving his screen a look. When he sees it’s Johnny inviting him along for another party, Peter rolls his eyes and doesn’t answer. He leaves the phone on his bed while he gets up. His ribs still hurt, otherwise he would have been doing some exercises to keep himself busy. He wonders if he could swing out of the tower and head back to the apartment. It’s at least better than to stay here and listening to the couple of the year arguing their ears off.

Peter pulls his hood over his head and groans. In frustration, he pulls his headphones off his desk and listens to some music. It calms him down at least a little bit, but not enough for his heart to slow down a bit. Angered by everything happening, Peter clears his throat and comes to stand in front of his window.

He could wall-crawl to Bruce’s floor, take the elevator from there on. Then the two here won’t see him leave, and he won’t have to swing his way away. Crawling down the entire tower would take too long, especially with Peter’s ribs aching like this.

With his hood pulled over his head and his phone back into his pocket, Peter opens up the window and expertly climbs out of it.

“FRI, don’t tell them I’m leaving until they specifically ask for it, please?” Peter asks.

“ _Of course, Peter. May I ask where you’re going in case they ask?”_ the AI returns.

“I’m going out. Just tell them I’m not going on patrol so they can pull those sticks out of their asses,” Peter mutters bitterly. Then, without any other word Peter jumps out of the window, immediately sticking himself against the wall to avoid falling down to his death. Sure, he has the web-shooters around his wrists at all times, but still…

Crawling down to Bruce’s floor, he gets to the window of the lab before knocking against it. Immediately, Bruce turns around to see the source of the noise. When he sees Peter, he gives him a smile. This isn’t the first time Peter does this.

He opens the window like he always does.

“Hi Peter, your Dads are arguing again, aren't they?” he asks. Peter sighs and shrugs.

“Aren’t they always? Sometimes I wonder if they’re truly happy together, with the way they go at it sometimes,” Peter complains. He looks around the lab, finding that Bruce must have been in the middle of research.

“Still looking up that strange black stuff we found at the crash-site,” Bruce explains. “It’s alien, that’s about all we know. I’ve been thinking about calling Strange for assistance.”

“He’s a neurosurgeon, what knowledge does he have on the extraterrestrial?” Peter wonders out loud.

“He’s also a master of the mystic arts who can track shit,” Bruce adds with a wink. Peter hums in understanding, passing a finger over the screen as he goes through the files. “I’m sorry I ran off during the whole thing at Otto’s.”

Peter looks back at the guy he’s come close to call Uncle Bruce. Giving him a sad look, he puts a hand on the guy’s shoulder.

“Dude, we all understand why you did that,” he says. “If you hadn’t, I’m sure Steve would have told you to go anyway.”

Bruce scoffs. “Awesome hero I am. Can’t even help out in a stupid thing like this.”

Peter shakes Bruce by the shoulder, giving him a sympathetic look. “Nah, man, you’re the big guns. Remember when you pounded that purple jerk in the face so much he could barely breathe in between?”

Bruce rolls his eyes. “No, I don’t remember. I just remember… being so angry at one point, like somebody I cared about had died, which is weird since none of us got killed, right?”

Peter frowns. “That’s weird, do you remember who got hurt?” he tries. Bruce shrugs in return.

“No clue. When I asked Tony about it, he said it didn’t matter since everything turned out alright anyway. He was being very shady about it.”

Peter sighs, a bit tired of the secrets his dad seems to be having. Whatever really happened during the war, it seems like nobody really wants to include the ones that weren’t involved. It’s sad that even Bruce isn’t included in this.

“I’d say I’ll ask him, but I’m sure he won’t tell me,” Peter complains. Then he clears his throat, checking is his wallet is still in his back pocket, and gently shakes his shoulders loose. “Anyway, I’m heading out. You mind keeping an eye on those two upstairs? Make sure they don’t break up again? We all remember how their last split went.”

Bruce shudder. “I wasn’t there, but I can remember how he was when I came back. I’ll try and keep it contained.”

Peter smiles at him sadly before looking at the door that leads to the hallway of Bruce’s floor.

“I’ll see you later, okay?”

Bruce nods, giving him a wave. “Take care, Peter. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

Peter holds up his thumb before leaving the lab. After grabbing his earbuds again and putting up a catchy song, Peter gets into the elevator the moment it arrives. Now that he’s fully clothed, of course it stops nowhere at all but the floor where he needs to go; the main floor. He clears his throat, hides his badge away in the pocket of his coat, and he starts heading towards the exit.

Taking out his phone again, he looks over Johnny’s text again. It says the party is at eight, which means he still has about an hour to get there. If he goes to the apartment after this, he might still catch him on his way there.

Peter startles when he’s suddenly pushed onto the ground. Hissing at the pain in his side, he’s about ready to start shouting curses at the person who made him fall until he realizes who is standing there.

“Shit dude, I’m sorry I wasn’t looking where I was walking,” the woman says. Peter’s eyes meet her greenish-brown ones. She looks tired, smelling of alcohol. Peter just clears his throat, watching her black hair move in the wind.

“It’s fine,” Peter mumbles, accepting her help to pull him up. Once he’s back on his two feet, the woman starts walking away again. “You’re Jessica Jones, aren’t you?”

The woman stands still, almost unmoving. Then, with an unimpressed look, she turns back around.

“Great, you recognized me. Congratulations.”

Peter clears his throat again. He figures he can’t really tell her much as Peter Parker. He’d have better luck getting into a conversation with her as Spider-Man after all.  

“Right, uh, sorry,” Peter mumbles, figuring it’s better to just pull back before he gets her angry. She’s known for having a bad temper, after all. He’s about to say something else when suddenly he hears something behind him.

“Peter?!”

Shit, that’s his dad. Looking up at Jones in horror, Peter realizes she must put two and two together. She is a PI, after all.

“I need to go,” Peter mutters, clearing his throat before pulling his hood back up. Behind him, the doors burst open, surely with Tony storming outside.

“PETER!” he shouts the moment he catches Peter walking away. Peter’s all too aware of Jessica watching it happening curiously, but he can only hope for her not caring enough about it.

When he hears his dad’s footsteps coming closer in a fast rate, Peter decides it’s best to just start running, despite the pain in his side. He leaves Stark Tower behind him, running into a street and practically throwing himself into the first taxi he sees.

Hurriedly he mutters his address to the driver, turning his head back to check if his dad is still following. Luckily, the car drives off the moment Tony rounds around the corner, looking angry and scared at the same time. Peter lets out a long breath, actually surprised that he noticed him leaving already. He thought it would have taken at least a few hours or something like that.

His phone is ringing. Peter doesn’t pick up, still too annoyed at Tony to have a decent conversation. Right now, he just wants some distraction. Hanging out with Johnny is probably the best way to do that now, he supposes.

By the time the taxi stops in front of the apartment, Peter hands the driver the money before crawling out of the car. Normally he takes the stairs to get up, but this time he decides to go for the elevator and spare himself the trouble.

He arrives only right on time it seems. The moment he opens up the door, he finds Johnny standing right in front of the elevator, sporting his longish hair back wearing a black leather jacket. Something that looks rather expensive.

“Peter? Weren’t you at your dad’s?” Johnny asks in surprise when he notices Peter standing there.

“Nah,” Peter returns, getting himself out of the elevator. “Wait for me, I’m joining ya.”

“You serious?” Peter can understand Johnny’s surprise. It’s never really by Peter’s own free will that he agrees to come along. The fact that Johnny didn’t even have to try and convince him must be quite the shock. But even Peter doesn’t know why he’s decided to join. In his mind, he knows it’s a bad idea, but there’s like some small part of him that is telling him to go anyway.

“Yeah, just let me get changed.” Peter walks up to the front door, using his key to get inside. Johnny follows him back in, still looking at Peter with a confused look. Once in his room, he checks if his hair is not too much of a mess – it is, but it’s useless to try and change that. Then he grabs any sort of nice looking clothing that don’t look too much like Tony Stark bought it for him. He tries to look cool, but not rich.

“Did you have a fight with your dads?’ Johnny asks knowingly. He’s leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed, looking at Peter changing without any shame in him. “Has it something to do with those massive bruises you’ve got on your… everywhere?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Peter mutters, grabbing a white shirt and gently pulling it over his head. “By tomorrow they’ll mostly be gone anyway.”

“You’re going to give your old man a heart-attack one day, Petey.”

“He can handle it, he still has a bit of the serum inside of him.”

Johnny doesn’t respond to that, but just keeps staring. It’s a little bit unnerving, Peter finds, but he doesn’t mention it. Instead he clears his throat and puts on his coat. Grabbing his cellphone back from where he’d thrown it on the bed, he opens up his arms and gives Johnny a questioning look.

“I look okay?” he asks. Johnny just stares for a few more seconds before shaking his head.

“Yeah, you look like prom king, now let’s go,” he mutters, turning around so fast that it’s clear he’s in a hurry. Peter runs after him after making sure his wallet is still in his pocket. He wonders if Johnny is going to bring along another girl tonight. Then he wonders where Johnny keeps on finding them. Especially since he’s almost slept his way through all of the university.

In the elevator Peter looks at his phone, wondering if he should let MJ know where he is. There could be no trouble in that, right? It might be better for someone sober to know of his whereabouts. He quickly texts her a small message before putting the phone away.

“So, you and MJ still going strong?” Johnny asks curiously, if not a bit awkwardly. Peter shrugs.

“Yeah, nothing’s changed. It’s not like I’m going to invite her along since she pretty much has the biggest dislike for parties like this.” Remembering how pissed off she looked at Liz’ party last year, he figures it might be for the better she’s not coming. Otherwise she’s going to prepare herself another piece of toast to eat there while giving everybody a death-stare.

“Right,” Johnny returns, clearing his throat again. After a few more seconds of awkward silence – what is happening?! – Johnny pulls up another wide grin before grabbing Peter by the arm. “Oh, I can introduce you to some people I’ve been hanging out with! We can all hang out together!”

Peter tries to smile as well, just so he’s not too much of an ass against his good friend. “Sounds great,” he says to him. “Oh, and Felicia wanted to hang out with us again, soon.”

“Man, that girl really digs you,” Johnny says with a wink, poking Peter in the side. The bad side. After a flinch and a painful groan, Johnny’s eyes open up in surprise and he holds out his hands in apology. Peter gestures that it’s no problem.

“It’s fine, just sensitive,” Peter mutters to him. Johnny gives him a worried look before turning back to the door of the elevator. Is it him, or is this ride downstairs really long? Peter glances to the side before slapping his forehead.

“What, what’s wrong?” Johnny asks, worriedly. Peter just points at the buttons of the floors.

“You never indicated which floor we need to go to,” he reveals. Johnny bites on his lip while he tries to hold in a laugh.

“You could have done it as well, you know! It’s not all _my_ fault.”

“Shut up and push the button,” Peter returns while rolling his eyes. Johnny is still grinning. He shakes his shoulders loose and then dramatically pushes in the button of the main floor. After that, the elevator starts moving at last.

“So, uh, with Felicia. You think I could try and make a move? She’s hot, you know,’ Johnny jokes. Peter shrugs in return, not really caring either way if Johnny would try and get into Felicia’s pants, as long as it doesn’t become awkward afterwards.

“You do what you want, man, I’m not stopping you,” Peter assures him. Johnny claps his hands together while looking forward pensively. Probably already trying to find a way to woo her. Peter wishes him luck, not really knowing if Felicia’s really _that_ interested in relationships. After all, she’s always been telling Peter that all she wants to be is friends whenever he felt a bit unsure about hanging out.

They go by foot. Johnny tells him it’s not that far, and Peter believes him. With his hands stuck into the pockets of his pants, Peter follows Johnny on the sidewalk. He’s right, of course, when they arrive after only two short blocks. The party is at a large apartment building, though it looks pretty… not abandoned, but it might need a lot of TLC, to be honest.

“Here?” Peter asks, curiously. Johnny nods.

“Yeah, top floor. Neat, no?”

Peter snorts before following Johnny inside. There’s an elevator, though it looks like it’s about ready for retirement. Knowing that, if it gets stuck, they’ll find their way out of it, Peter and Johnny risk the elevator without any hesitation.

Much to both their surprise, the elevator pulls through. The moment the door opens, the smell of beer fills into Peter’s nostrils. There’s a heat going on, one that comes with having too many people breathing in the same room. Against the wall, there’s a couple already making out. Another girl is passed out against the wall.

“Holy shit they must have started early,” Johnny says, sounding actually impressed. Peter looks at the sleeping girl, but figures she’ll be fine when he sees her chest go up and down regularly. They don’t knock on the door since it’s open. Instead, they just walk inside, where the heat is even more than before. Peter shrugs out of his coat without needing any more second to think about it.

“Jahnnaaay!” somebody shouts. A guy with a bottle of beer in his hands walks up to Johnny and gives him that typical guy-hug where they slap each other on the shoulder with their chests barely touching each other. Peter snorts, wondering when it became that he started to think like this?

“Davey! How long have you been here?” Johnny asks when he pulls back. He clearly seems to find his friend’s drunken state quite hilarious, since he gives Peter a short look with amused eyes.

“Ah, y’know, an hour’so,” the very-drunk Davey or however his name is actually said mumbles out, pressing his face against Johnny’s shoulder and starting to nod off. After another eye-roll from the guy, Johnny, he gives him a gentle push to get his attention back.

“Well, this here’s my buddy Peter, remember him?” Johnny asks, pointing towards Peter to divert Davey’s attention towards him. The guy squints at Peter, his mouth falling open in his confusion. Once he seems to actually get a look at him, he shrugs.

“You mean that guy you keep talking about? ‘He just never wants to join me! Why wouldn’t Peter come along?’ I tell you, man, it’s almost like this guy is actually secretly in love with you or something,” Davey slurs out, not even trying to be quiet about it. Johnny rolls his eyes again, pushing Davey even more to the side.

“And that’s enough from you, drunk bastard,” Johnny returns. Peter doesn’t spend too much attention to it. Instead he takes a few steps to the side where he fishes out two beer bottles out of a cooler. Opening them, he hands one to Johnny.

“Here you go,” he says. Johnny frowns.

“Dude, I thought you couldn’t?” he asks, clearly confused. “You know, with your medication and all?”

“’m no longer on them,” Peter says, raising his bottle up as if he wants to toast on it. Johnny blinks a few more times, a sheer bit of worry still clear in his eyes before it’s replaced by something else.

“Hey, man, good for you! I don’t really know too much about that kind of shit but I guess you being off them means you’re getting better, right?”

“Right.”

They drink on it. And then they drink some more. And even more. They drink when one of those art-students appears on the party just as drunk as them, catching Johnny’s attention almost immediately. They drink when somebody suggests they play some weird drinking-game where people confess to everything they’ve ever (or never?) done. They drink when Flash appear, probably even more drunk than they are.

And the craziest part about it? Flash doesn’t instantly start insulting him. Instead, Peter gets to hear a story of Flash’ adoration of Spider-Man, out of all the heroes. Of course, Peter’s only listening in little bits, his attention drawn to Felicia who has somehow also appeared at one point. He grins when he sees Johnny has lost the interest in the art-student, and instead he and Felicia are dancing together. Closely. He averts his eyes when she gives him a long look with those blue eyes of hers.

“HEY ASSHOLE!”

Peter startles, realizing he must have dosed off when he actually jumps up in the air for a bit. Blinking a few times in confusion, Peter turns towards the source of the noise, noticing another guy walking up to them.

“Eddie, my man!” Flash calls out, holding his arms open as if he’s ready for a hug. Peter squints again in confusion, for a moment wondering why he’s seated on a couch next to Flash without getting his ass kicked? Wait, Flash was telling him something, wasn’t he? Shit he doesn’t even remember what he was talking about.

“You’re such a fucking dickface, you know that, right?” Eddie complains, shoving Flash the moment he reaches him. Flash makes a questioning noise. “Having a pleasant chat with the Penis here, aren’t you?”

Peter points at him, disgruntled and his head spinning.

“Hey, dunnot call me that!” he slurs out, barely even hearing his own voice.

“Dude, what’s your problem?” Flash asks, holding up his hands in surrender. It doesn’t seem to stop Eddie.

“You’re too fucking drunk to even remember this dickwad stealing my girl, don’t you?” Eddie asks, huffing out an annoyed breath while pointing at Peter. A few heads turn towards Peter in confusion.

“Your girl?” Peter mumbles to himself, trying to think back of a time where Eddie had a girlfriend. One Peter might have stolen for some reason.

“Dude, you and Stacey were over before he even went out with her,” somebody in the crowd says. Probably one of their old friends. Peter only vaguely recognizes him in this state. He squeezes his eyes shut for a bit, rubbing them with his fingers while he takes in that last sentence.

He never dated a girl called Stacy. He would remember that, wouldn’t he?

Eddie is still talking to Flash, probably painfully sober in comparison to the others. Peter takes a short step forward to get in between them, but almost falls over the moment he stands still.

“D-dude, chill. I never st-stole anybody’s girl,” Peter manages out. Eddie’s face just seems to color red all over.

“What, so you weren’t Gwen’s boyfriend two years ago?” Eddie bites at him. Peter presses his lips together, suddenly putting two and two together. He meant Stacey, not Stacy. He was talking about Gwen. Peter feels his body go cold, the buzz that had been hanging over him suddenly dissipating while he comes to his senses a little bit.

“Wait a minute-“ Peter mumbles out. He does indeed remember Gwen mentioning something about an ex, but she never called him by name. After all, they had been only fourteen back then; no relationship is serious at that age!

Peter feels like he can’t breathe. It’s been a while since he’s actually _thought_ about Gwen. Visiting her grave has become a monthly activity instead of a weekly one, and it has been hurting less and less to talk to her. Despite that, it feels like his heart has been ripped out on the spot at the idea that Eddie seems to be blaming _him_ for that.

“Dude, not cool to mention her right now,” Flash says in a surprising sober, adult tone. Peter would have been confused at the way he’s defending him, but right now he doesn’t even care a bit. He clears his throat twice until it hurts before letting out a long, deep breath. It hurts in his chest.

“What, you guys are best buds now? I thought you hated his guts? Or is it because you’re drunk now that your man-crush on him is showing?” Eddie shoves Flash back until he falls against a bookshelf. With multiple books falling over his head, Flash lets out a painful grunt, too drunk to stand up properly.

“Dude, lay off,” Peter slurs out, giving Eddie a shove as well.

“Aw, how cute, your boyfriend comes to your rescue, Eugene,” Eddie returns. He holds up his fist, giving it a short look before moving it towards Peter’s face. Despite the alcohol, Peter avoids it easily. With a practiced move, he swings his own fist in a strong hook, hitting Eddie right in the face. When he goes flying into the room, Peter realizes he might have hit him a bit too hard.

He should have ran to him, find out if he’s alright. But he doesn’t care at all. Eddie’s a jerk, and he deserves the nose-bleed he’s now sporting. A couple of the other students stare at him in surprise, probably wondering how the scrawny, nerdy kid could have landed such a shot. Peter ignores them, instead moving to the left, picking up another bottle and downing it in one go. After that he throws it on the floor and runs out of the room.

 

* * *

 

 

Tony’s in the workshop. It’s a good change of scenery, a lack of voices in a room where only machinery matters now. FRIDAY barely speaks up, Dum-E, U, Butterfingers and Id-Jit are rolling around in search for something to do. The sound of their wheels on the ground, their gears moving as they lift up their arms, is soothing.

A look into the microscope. The result is still not what Tony would have liked it to be. He doesn’t give up, instead starting over and trying a different approach. The trick is not to lose his patience here, which is a hard enough task to do since his patience is pretty much at the verge of dying right at this point.

“FRI, still no sightings of Spider-Man?” Tony asks again, probably for the fifth time already since he came down here. After realizing the boy had left the building, he and Steve had put their argument on hold. Instead of continuing it and talking it through, Tony just locked himself in his workshop after failing to bring Peter back home.

“Negative. If I’m correct, the suit is currently still located at the apartment Peter shares with young master Storm.”

Tony closes his eyes and counts to ten, again. After that, he lets out a deep breath and continues on his work. He has no clue how late it is, but it can’t be _that_ late since Steve still hasn’t come and kidnap him back to bed.

If he’s going to, at least. After that fight, he wouldn’t put it past him to just decide and head to sleep himself.

It’s always the same thing it ends up to. While at first it was about Tony overreacting to what happened at Otto’s, the conversation almost immediately went back to the same shit they’ve been arguing about for months now. Becauese despite how often Tony has to assure Steve that he can live with the decisions they’ve made for their future, the Super-Soldier still can’t seem to believe him.

Like Steve doesn’t trust Tony.

Tony tries to ignore the thought. He tinkers on, works out a few more kinks in his formula and checks out the result once more. It looks more promising, but still not optimal. It’s alright, just start over, go for another angle.

“Tony.”

Tony startles, looking up from the microscope and finding Id-Jit already standing at the door where Steve is currently trying to get away from him. Steve, who is right now wearing his Captain America uniform.

“There’s a mission?” Tony asks without bothering to try and be polite. Steve looks down at his wardrobe before shrugging.

“Thor has requested the Avengers’ presence. I thought I’d get you personally,” Steve explains. Tony crosses his arms, gazing at Steve unbelievingly.

“Right, then why didn’t I get a warning about this if he needs all of us?” Tony asks. Steve shrugs.

“ _I did warn you, sir. You just put me on mute three hours ago so it didn’t come through,”_ FRIDAY reveals. Tony glares up at the ceiling.

“An Avengers-call isn’t something you just put on mute, FRI!” Tony complains, rubbing his eyebrows while leaning on his elbows. He’s aware of Steve looking at him, but he tries to ignore it as much as he can. “What’s the emergency?”

“He said he couldn’t tell us over the phone – can you believe Thor has a phone?” Steve doesn’t smile, though. His arms are crossed over his chest, his face serious. Then he gives Tony a pointed look. “Well, what are you waiting for?”

Tony doesn’t make any move to stand up. Instead he takes his notebook and starts scribbling something down.

“I’m sure you guys can manage without me,” he says plainly. Dum-E comes rolling up to Steve, giving him a poke in the side to get his attention. “Rhodey’s back in town, isn’t he? Ask if he wants to fill in.”

“Tony,” Steve starts, but then he stops. Putting his hands on his hips, his eyes bore angrily into Tony’s back.

“You have something to say, Rogers?” Tony asks. It’s out before he knows it, but he doesn’t even feel guilty right now. Steve’s been called worse by him in the past.

“Tony, we’ve been arguing for hours. Can’t we just put this behind us and focus on the mission?” Steve tries.

“Nah,” Tony returns. He knows it’s childish and that he should handle this better, but he can’t right now. “You head on out, and after the mission’s over just… hang out for a bit. No rush.”

“You’re kicking me out again?” Steve asks, unbelievingly.

“I sure am,” Tony returns.

“Come on, Tony, I know we don’t agree on keeping a watch on Peter, but you can’t kick me out for only this? Is this about the kids-issue?”

Tony jumps up from his chair, passing his hand over everything on his desk and throwing it all on the ground. Then, in a moment of total rage, he turns around and lets out heavy, low breaths while staring Steve right in the eyes.

“You know what? Yeah, that’s exactly what this is about. Because I was alright, and you just keep on pushing and pushing and shoving it in my face with your stupid apologies! And earlier today you were too busy helping out a madman to even realize my son had just once _again_ almost died!”

“Peter took a hit, he was far from dying, Tony,” Steve corrects him.

“TO ME IT DIDN’T SEEM LIKE IT!” Without realizing it, Tony gives Steve a shove on the chest. “Do you _know_ what it felt like for me? To hold my dead son’s body in my arms? To see him lying there on the ground with no life left in him? Losing my parents was hard, but the idea that my _boy_ was dead. On that instant, a part of me died along with him.”

“That’s not fair, Tony,” Steve says with a shaking voice. His eyes appear wet. “I saw him there, too. I felt it just as much as you did.”

“You have no idea what it feels like, Steve,” Tony hisses towards him. His hands are shaking, his mind providing him with images he wishes would just disappear. He squeezes his eyes shut, trying to remember where his bottle of pills is. He should have taken one hours ago, but he was so busy with his project that he completely forgot about it.

“OF COURSE I KNOW WHAT IT FEELS LIKE!” Steve shouts in a sudden wave of anger. Tony startles, but doesn’t look up. “I CARE ABOUT PETER AS IF HE’S MY OWN SON!”

Tony doesn’t respond. Steve sighs.

“But fine, I get it. I’ll stay away, since clearly all you want to do is take all of this on yourself. After all, who am I to make decisions about Peter, right?”

After that, there are footsteps, then a closing door. Tony starts shivering the moment Steve is out of the room, falling down on his knees and pressing his forehead against the floor. His tears rolling over his cheek, his heart aching.

He should have known that he would chase Steve off one day. Things were too good to be true, after all.

Shit, what he would do to get a drink right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the sweet comments and kudo's! I always smile whenever I get a notification. It really helps me through this story! Big virtual hugs to you all <3


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the sweet comments. You're all a bunch of sweethearts! Here you go, the next chapter. This one came out of my fingers quickly, though the next one was HELL to write. Filler chapters, am I right? :')  
> Anyway, here you go, eleventh chapter.  
> Chapter warnings:   
> \- depressed Tony  
> \- hungover Peter  
> \- Not much else, I think

It’s seven past six in the morning. Another minute goes by as Tony stares at the clock in front of him. The bed is cold, or at least colder than it should be. The lack of a person breathing next to him is disturbing, making him feel even more lonely than ever before.

Shit, what exactly happened last night? He remembers having another panic attack, but other than that… all he can recall that, apparently, he chased Steve off.

The Avengers are on a mission. That much he has gathered. What the mission is about, he has no clue. He should probably have gone with them, since he’s an Avenger as well. But he couldn’t. He still can’t.

It’s eight past six.

The sun is slowly getting up. The city that never sleeps starts coming out of its peaceful moments. And Tony is purposely avoiding looking at the empty spot right next to him.

He should call Steve, tell him that he overreacted and that he shouldn’t have worked it out on him, but Tony knows that, even if Steve would just come back, the same thing would happen again. He can’t control it, this constant fear. Tony just needs more time to get his thoughts straight.

As for Peter… Tony is _aware_ of the fact that he’d becoming over-protective. No-one should blame him after what happened during the war, after all. Peter is a reckless boy, ready to give his life to save the others. He knows the kid got that from him, since Tony never really valued his life as much worth in comparison to others.

But Peter… the thought that something would happen to Peter, AGAIN… Tony shudders in the bed. He turns on his back when the clock shows another minute has passed. He should probably continue on the new armor, but he can’t. Just getting out of bed is already the hardest task he can imagine today, so instead he just stays down, looking at the ceiling and resting his hand on his chest. When he catches himself rubbing his scar, he doesn’t even stop himself. After all, who is he hurting with it?

Time passes. When it’s eight, the phone goes off. Tony doesn’t pick up, and neither does FRIDAY do it for him. The call goes through, until the ringing stops. The person has reached his voicemail. He’ll listen to it later.

The thing is, he could get out of bed. It would be easy to step out, head to the store and bring back some booze. But he wouldn’t help himself with it. With the fear of disrupting his now-healthy liver, Tony instead tells himself to stay in bed. At least that way he won’t be destroying himself again like that.

“ _Sir, Mrs. Potts is trying to reach you_ ,” FRIDAY reveals. Tony shrugs.

“I only want to know when Peter or Steve call,” Tony returns with a cracking voice. He rubs his eyes and lets out a long sigh. Then he turns to the side again. In front of him, he sees Steve’s empty spot on the mattress. He reaches out an arm, trying to imagine him lying there. But it doesn’t work. The sheets feel cold, Tony’s eyes lower and his chest aches again.

“ _Sir, I would think it prudent to seek out Dr. Winedell again, perhaps?”_ FRIDAY suggests then. Tony shakes his head.

“No, I’ll see her tomorrow. She doesn’t work on Sunday’s,” Tony counters that idea. Besides, he really doesn’t feel like talking about himself right now. He lets out another sigh, closing his eyes again for a few short seconds.

He startles when there’s a sudden banging on the door. Tony’s eyes open up, the clock indicating that it’s twenty past eight. Confused, he frowns while scratching his head. He wouldn’t have expected to actually fall asleep right now.

The knocking gets louder. “TONY, OPEN THIS GODDAMN DOOR OR SO HELP ME I’LL CALL THE RESCUE ARMOR AND FORCE MY WAY IN!”

Shit, Pepper’s here. Tony scoffs while rubbing his forehead. He grunts while attempting to sit up. He fails.

“FRI, open up will you?” Tony asks with a low voice. The moment he’s said the word, the doors burst open with two sets of footsteps barging inside. Oh, crap, he’s really going to get it now…

“YOU KICKED STEVE OUT AGAIN?!”

Great, Pepper’s pissed off. Tony squeezes his eyes shut and presses his hands against his eyes.

“Pep, honey, sweetheart, light of my life… Can you just not today?” Tony groans. When he opens his eyes again, he can see said woman standing there with her hands on her hips, along with Rhodey who is just looking at him sadly.

“I WILL JUST DO AS I PLEASE YOU ASSHOLE!”

Suddenly there’s another weight on the mattress. A foot kicking him softly in the side.

“STOP! PUSHING! AWAY! THE! MAN! YOU! LOVE!” Before Tony knows it, he’s rolled on his side until he’s out of the bed, lying on the ground. With a painful sound, Tony turns to look at Pepper, who towers over him on the mattress still looking angry.

“Stop it, alright?!” Tony calls out, louder than he wanted. Pepper’s face changes from angry to surprised. Meanwhile, Rhodey walks up to him and holds out his hand. “You should all be glad that I didn’t hit the bottle.”

Rhodey shakes his head, clearly disappointed in that comment. “No way, man, the only person you should do _that_ for is yourself. It’s not our liver you’re screwing up, after all.”

“NO IT’S STEVE’S SO CALL HIM AND APOLOGIZE!”

“Pepper, seriously, dial it down, I’m not really in the mood for this shit,” Tony mutters out. He steps away from the two of them to sit back down on the bed, his face pressed between his hands. “Can somebody just… hand me my pills? They’re in the bathroom.”

Rhodey walks off, heading towards where Tony is pointing him to. Pepper, on the other hand, keeps on glaring down at him.

“Tony, I know you’ve hit a rough spot right now, but you can’t keep doing this to him,” Pepper finally says in a lower volume. Tony doesn’t look up, just shakes his head while keeping his eyes on the floor. “Where’s Peter? I thought you said he came home?”

“We had a disagreement and he headed back to the apartment,” Tony mutters back. When Rhodey returns with his orange bottle and a glass of water, Tony downs the two little pills down in one go before squeezing his eyes shut. It’s going to be another day full of headaches.

“And what was the disagreement about?” Rhodey wonders. Tony just shrugs in return.

“He got knocked out during a fight, I couldn’t wake him up so I panicked,” he admits. Just two sighs coming up from the people with him. They’re clearly losing their patience. Tony doesn’t care.

“Listen, Tony, we’re going to have to talk about this, seriously. But not today,” Pepper finally says. She pulls him back up on his feet and pushes him towards the bathroom where Rhodey apparently already started up the shower.

“What’s the rush?” Tony asks in confusion.

“In case you forgot the King of Wakanda is arriving in just two hours or so,” Pepper reminds him while Rhodey pulls the sleeping shirt from over Tony’s head with no shame at all. “In an hour the stylists will be here, so that means we have about that time to find Peter and get him to look decent as well.”

“I’ll check at the apartment,” Rhodey says before turning around and getting out of the bathroom. Tony protests when Pepper starts pulling on his pants to get them down.

“Oh please, it’s not like it’s anything I haven’t seen before,” Pepper says, unimpressed. Tony just holds on to his pants, making sure she doesn’t pull them down.

“I can have at least a _bit_ of privacy, no?” Tony complains. Pepper rolls her eyes before turning around and walking towards the door.

“Get cleaned up, you smell like your workshop.”  

Then the door closes and Tony is left alone in the bathroom. He rolls his eyes, drops his pants and quickly steps into the gigantic stall where the hot water already meets him. In his annoyance, he makes a face.

“You smell like your workshop,” he imitates Pepper. “It’s nothing I haven’t seen before – sure fine but imagine me walking in on her getting dressed then I’m really gonna get it, stupid shit rules I don’t understand…”

Then he finally starts washing himself up.

 

* * *

 

 

It’s a heavy pounding in Peter’s head. He has no idea what is happening, other than wanting to empty his entire stomach on the floor.

Peter opens his eyes, finding that the light of day is already shining inside of his room. He forgot to pull the curtains, he realizes. With a grunt, he gets himself up into a seated position to look outside.

His head aches, his stomach feels just as horrible. What exactly happened? He remembers going to the party with Johnny, but everything pretty much became a blur after that. There’s a slight memory of Felicia an Johnny dancing together. He remembers Flash telling him something – actually telling him instead of shouting it at him. Peter groans once more as he realizes his curtains are on the floor.

Great, he’d been drunk. He thought he wouldn’t be going that way again? He remembers all too well how it felt after that one time. Angry at himself, Peter gets on his feet, just wishing that this pounding in his head can just pass quickly.

“Peter, come on, open up! It’s Rhodey!” somebody says. That’s when Peter realizes that the pounding is not just in his head. It’s his head reacting to the noise coming out of the hallway. Peter sighs and walks out of his room with careful steps. Once he’s at the door, he realizes he might not really appear his best. He’s sure he can convince Rhodey not to tell Aunt May, or at least he hopes so.

Peter opens the door, but doesn’t say anything. Rhodey gives him an unimpressed look.

“No way,” he says while crossing his arms. “You’re hungover, aren’t you?”

Peter shrugs, turning around to walk back into the apartment. He doesn’t even bother to be quiet for Johnny’s sake – knowing him, he sleeps through an entire invasion.

“What’s up?” Peter gets out. His stomach isn’t all too happy about it. He puts his hand on top of it to calm it down. Behind him, the door closes.

“The King and Princess of Wakanda are up, or did you forget they were coming today?” Rhodey asks. Great, he sounds just the way Steve sounds when he’s disappointed in something. Peter can’t really bother with that today.

“Right, what does that have to do with me?” Peter asks in confusion. Rhodey rolls his eyes before walking past him, straight into his bedroom.

“There’s no use in getting you cleaned up here, the crew will have to do their magic at the tower,” Rhodey says. “Now, get out of that suit and hop into the shower.”

“Suit?” Peter mumbles, looking down at his body and finding that he’s indeed still in the uniform. That’s weird, he doesn’t remember going out on patrol tonight? Though, there’s a lot he doesn’t remember, really. He shouldn’t be too surprised.

“You went out on patrol drunk, didn’t you?” Rhodey asks. Peter looks up at him while shaking his head.

“No I didn’t- or… I don’t remember…”

“Okay, let’s just agree not to tell your dad about this, all right? We don’t need him freaking out over this,” Rhodey suggests. Peter nods while rubbing his forehead, cursing himself for losing control like this yesterday. It’s also then that he realizes his ribs don’t hurt anymore. See, Tony had been worried over nothing… again…

So Peter takes a quick shower. Rhodey is probably already picking out some random clothes for him, but Peter figures he’ll get another makeover from Tony’s team. He already hates the idea.

“Say, Rhodey, why do I even have to be there? Nobody knows who I am?” Peter asks when he’s sure Rhodey’s in the bathroom to put down the clothes. He knows there’s going to be reporters, people will take pictures. It will be kind of obvious when a random kid will just be appearing there, right?

“Oh, you don’t know? For now you’re Tony’s intern – which _was_ true, so if anybody wants to look you up they won’t find anything other than that. As far as anybody’s concerned, you’ve been interning at Stark Industries the entire time.”

Peter frowns while letting the shampoo go through his hair.

“But isn’t it kind of coincidental? I mean, I suddenly appear after they announce that Tony has a kid?”

“I’m sure that’s a possibility, but that’s why there will be two of you,” Rhodey says then. Peter opens up the curtain of the shower to give Rhodey another confused look.

“Two of us?” he asks. Rhodey nods, looking smug for a moment. Nothing happens, and Peter just raises his eyebrow while he waits. Rhodey clears his throat, coughing into his hand. About ten seconds later, the doorbell rings.

“Timing could have been better,” Rhodey mutters before exiting the bathroom to open up the door. Peter decides he’ll find out who it is afterwards. He rinses off his hair, gets his body cleaned up, and then jumps out of the shower to get dried off quickly. After a quick look at his watch, he figures he still has about an hour to get ready. Tony’s Team only needs about twenty minutes with him or so, at the most.

Peter’s still drying off his hair when he walks out. His bedroom is empty, so after grabbing his stuff he heads to the living room. Johnny’s still asleep – if he even got home last night – but there’s another presence seated on the couch. Peter recognizes her immediately.

“MJ? What’s going on?” Peter asks in confusion. MJ turns towards him, giving him a wide smile before shrugging.

“I don’t know, I suddenly got a call from your Dad’s assistant telling me that because of my ‘impeccable performance’ during my internship I was invited to meet the King of Wakanda,” she says with a wink. “I think your father likes me.”

Peter rolls his eyes. He walks up to her and gives her cheek a short kiss. Rhodey looks at him with a grin on his face and a raised eyebrow. Peter waves him off, not liking the look he’s getting there. At least the shower helped him with his headache. It did nothing for the feeling in his stomach, though.

“C’mon, lovebirds, we’re heading out,” Rhodey tells them. Not needing more prompting, MJ gets up from the couch and follows Rhodey out. Peter leaves a quick note for Johnny before closing the door behind him. Then he casts one more look at his bedroom, wondering if he’s right in leaving the suit here.

Ah, well, what could possibly happen? Peter closes the door and locks it before following MJ and Rhodey to the stairs.

The drive to the tower is filled with Rhodey and Happy discussing something about a mission. Peter can only barely follow, but he figures it’s something to do with the Avengers. Shouldn’t Tony have gone with them, though, if they’re really out? And why didn’t Rhodey join?

MJ is reading a book. It’s alright, Peter is glad that she isn’t one who needs constant physical contact. Keeping their hands to each other, Peter tries to read along to what she’s reading.

“Huh, Spanish?” Peter asks when he realize he can’t understand a single thing written down. MJ scoffs.

“You clearly didn’t pay attention in Spanish class,” she says jokingly. “This is Italian.”

“Why would you read Italian? Besides, I never followed Spanish.”

MJ pokes him on the forehead. “Italian is a cool language,” she says before turning back to the book. “Besides, you’re a quarter Italian, too, you know.”

“What? No way, how?” Peter almost jumps up from his seat as she speaks. “Rhodey, do you know anything about this?”

Rhodey just laughs, and so does Happy. “She ain’t lying, Peter. Tony’s mother was Italian. He speaks it fluently.”

“Holy crap,” Peter calls out. There’s something he should have known long ago, he realizes. How does MJ even know this before him? Peter never really heard Tony talk Italian once since he’s known him. It’s too bad, it could have been kind of badass to hear.

They arrive at the tower in record time. The moment they get to the floor, Tony’s team pull both Peter and MJ along into different rooms (Peter in his bedroom and MJ in the bathroom). Peter hasn’t seen Tony when he came in, but he figures the man is still in his own room, probably changing his clothes or something like that.

“Peter! You look horrible!” Pepper suddenly says as she walks into his room. Not having looked at his reflection in the mirror, Peter figures that he might be looking extremely tired or something like that. He simply shrugs.

“I figure the wonder-team can fix it up?” he jokes. The woman doing his hair gives him a small wink, while Pepper just glares at him.

“Seriously, can’t you two just stop drinking your problems away? I’m getting into an early grave because of the two of you!” Pepper rubs her forehead while she looks down at her cellphone.

“Tony drank?” Peter asks with a high-pitched voice, scared for the answer.

“Luckily, no, but we both know that’s how he dealt with his problems in the past now, don’t we?” Pepper returns. Peter clears his throat and looks down at the floor. He figures she might have a point in giving him a talking to. As long as nobody tells May about this, he figures he can deal with Pepper’s speech.

“Is Steve here, too?” he tries to change the subject. One of the women starts powdering Peter’s face, causing for him to sneeze.

“No, Tony kicked him out again,” Pepper mutters, exasperated. Peter rolls his eyes.

“We both know he’ll be back,” he assures her. “So I probably heard wrong when Happy and Rhodey mentioned an Avengers-mission?”

Pepper shakes her head. “No, they’re in New Asgard for some secret mission Thor asked their help for. Tony was supposed to go, but he was stubborn as always.”

Peter grumbles, realizing he might be the reason for that. Whatever, he can’t just take the blame for every stupid thing his Dad does now, can he? Tony’s still an adult, and sure, while he might not be that stable these past few days, he should manage on himself just fine, no?

After getting some fancy clothes pushed into his arms, the team leaves Peter’s room to give him a bit of privacy. Peter carefully changes, trying not to make wrinkles in the clothes. It’s not a suit, really, but it’s still formal in a way. Peter is at least glad there’s no tie. He gets into the living room and shows his look to the people there. Pepper, especially, seems pleased. She hands him a pair of dark sunglasses (the sun is shining brightly) and gives him a thumb’s up.

“You’re even ready faster than Tony,” she says with a wink. Peter snorts, not really surprised about that. The fact that Tony has been needing a serious shave and haircut, he can figure that it would have taken a bit more time. MJ is the next one to walk out. It’s weird, seeing her so much fancier than normally. Her wild hair is straightened out, her normally baggy clothes replaced by slim dark pants and a white shirt with on top of it a black coat. She gives Peter a wink before sitting down again and taking her book. Peter smiles back at her, feeling a sudden urge to kiss her but keeping himself from doing that.

Eventually, about ten minutes later, Tony emerges from his room as well. He looks the way Peter has always known him; goatee trimmed into perfection, face looking like he’s had every bit of rest in the world he needs. There’s the normal signs of aging on his skin, next to the greying into his hair and goatee. But despite all they’ve done to make him look presentable, Peter can see it in Tony’s eyes. The worry, the sadness, the lack of sleep.

A few seconds just, though. After that, Tony puts on his orange sunglasses and holds up his arms as if to present himself. Pepper walks up to him and straightens his jacket before giving him another scowl.

“Don’t be an ass, okay?” she asks him. There’s a smirk on Tony’s lips, adding to the mask he’s put up the moment he put on his sunglasses. Peter looks down at his own sunglasses and wonders if that’s what they’re expecting of him, too. MJ didn’t get glasses, did she?

“When have I ever been an ass?” Tony asks, sounding convincing. He could almost have fooled Peter.

“Like every second in your life?” Pepper counters. Then she nods towards the elevator. “C’mon, Happy and Rhodey are waiting in the car.”

The three follow her downstairs. The ride down in the elevator is quiet. Peter doesn’t know what to say to Tony. Pepper’s checking her phone, and MJ is looking at her straightened hair as if it just personally betrayed her. Even after clearing his throat, Peter shouldn’t be surprised that nobody says anything.

True to her word, Happy and Rhodey are still in the car when they get there. They all hurry inside, Pepper never looking up as she takes the seat next to Tony with her eyes still stuck to her phone. Tony, too, pulls out his tablet and seems to make it his mission not to say anything to anybody. He fails at it when Pepper addresses him.

“Have you called Steve yet?” she asks.

“How could I have called him during this all?” Tony counters.

“You’re Tony Stark, you always find a way to do that.”

“Well, I didn’t want to.”

“You’re such a child.”

“Love you, too, Pepper-dear.”

Peter turns to MJ, trying to find what she’s doing. She’s picked up her Italian book again, so it seems. Peter tries to read along for a bit, but gives up rather quickly. In the front seat, Rhodey turns around to address Tony.

“Hey, Tones, your boy didn’t know about his Italian heritage! Say something in Italian!”

Even through his sunglasses, Peter can see Tony glare at Rhodey.

“Sei un fottuto stronzo,” Tony mutters at him. MJ snorts while all the others look at the man in confusion.

“You tell ‘im, Tony,” she cheers on lowly. Once again, she surprises Peter by using his first name like that. Tony smirks again.

“Whatever you just said, fuck you, too,” Rhodey returns affectionately. Before Peter knows it, he speaks up as well.

“You really need to watch your language, otherwise Steve will wash your mouth with soap,” he jokes. While Tony freezes on the spot, Rhodey just bursts out laughing.

“As if! He’s dating the biggest potty-mouth of them all!” Happy, too, laughs. Pepper just gives Tony another glare, but Tony ignores it by simply looking outside.

The rest of the drive it’s more one-sided banter between Rhodey and Tony. Once they arrive at the airport, it’s like Pepper has just lost all the patience she has again. Ushering everybody through security, they get themselves to the location where the aircraft is supposed to come down. It seems like they’re right on time, too.

Peter and MJ give each other a look when they notice the journalists holding up their cameras. Tony looks like Tony Stark, standing there like he has all the confidence in the world. Pepper stands next to him, keeping her phone in her hand but looking at the aircraft coming down instead of typing down.

“So you met this guy before, right?” MJ whispers into his ear while they wait for the doors to open. Peter leans back towards her.

“Yeah, and his sister. She’s kind of cool, if not a bit impulsive,” he returns.

“More impulsive than your Dad?”

“You have no idea,” Peter snorts. MJ looks impressed. Immediately after that, the King emerges from the craft, wearing a black suit. Peter remembers the few times he’s ever spoken to the man. It’s weird how he has no problem talking to Thor (a God!!) but can’t even manage a sentence with the King of Wakanda.

Immediately after T’Challa, Shuri comes walking out. She’s wearing a white dress with her hair hanging loose over her shoulders in hundreds of small braids. The moment she sees Peter she grins and waves at him.

“PETAH!” she shouts, pronouncing it wrong on purpose. She’s never called him ‘Peter’ before, instead going for ‘Petah’ all the time. She says it’s because of her dialect, but Peter knows it has something to do with her reading the Hunger Games books.

The short-haired woman accompanying the king pulls on Shuri’s hair, causing for the teenager to yelp in surprise. T’Challa, Peter and MJ just snort in return. Once they’ve stepped down the stairs, Tony and Pepper move forward. Peter and MJ just stay standing where they are, unsure of what’s supposed to happen. Rhodey, too, keeps standing there in military position with his head straight and nothing to be read on his face.

Some words are spoken, Peter can’t hear them, nor does he want to focus on it. Instead, he endures the pictures being taken by the press while he waits for any sort of instruction.

“Parker, Jones, come over here,” Tony says while waving them on. Peter and MJ move forward until they’re standing right next to them. “These are Peter and Michelle, my best two interns.”

T’Challa gives Peter a knowing look before holding out his hand for them to shake. When Shuri gets close enough, though, she suddenly throws her arms around Peter’s shoulder and gives him a really strong hug. One strong enough to steal the breath in Peter’s lungs.  

“Shuri,” T’Challa says, though clearly amused. The Princess lets go of Peter before turning towards MJ with a bright smile. To her, she holds out her hand for a shake. MJ takes it, looking amused as well.

“Hi, I’m Shuri,” she introduces herself. MJ grins.

“MJ, I’m the girlfriend,” she says quietly so the journalists wouldn’t hear, nodding towards Peter. Shuri’s face falls for just a short second before the biggest grin in the world appears on it. Then, MJ, too, is pulled into a strong hug. In the corner of his eyes, Peter can see the King slapping his forehead through his laughter.

“Alright, I suggest we head out? Then at least the young ones can have some time for themselves,” T’Challa suggests to Tony, who shrugs and nods in return.

“I’m very alright with that.”


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With the speed writing is going, I'm going to try to go for two updates a week. I hope I can keep it up! Anyway, here's the chapter that was somehow hell to write.  
> Chapter warnings:  
> \- sad Tony

Peter’s not really sure if this is really what MJ had in mind when she suggested hanging out.

They’re at the shelter, handing out plates full of food to the kind people in front of them. Ignoring every bit their nose smells, they stay in place and don’t let it show that it’s actually smelling _extremely_ bad in here.

Peter stands next to MJ, who has put her straightened hair into a messy bun (even messier than before since it doesn’t seem to stay up the way she wants it to) and is wearing a faded Simpsons-apron. She’s already taken off the make-up that was put on her and changed back into her normal clothes. Peter, on the other hand, didn’t get changed.

To be fair, he mostly feels like he’s still about ready to puke at times, but other than that he’s feeling alright enough. He still has no clue what happened last night, but as long as he didn’t wake up with a random girl, he figures it can’t be that big of a deal.

He shouldn’t have been surprised when it appeared Felicia is a person who keeps true to her word. At the shelter, where Peter told her he would be, the brown-haired girl suddenly shows up, followed by a  horrible-looking, clearly hung-over Johnny Storm.

“And he’s alive!” Peter had called out when they walked in. Johnny had just flipped him off before getting an apron of his own; a black one with little flames on it. Peter’s pretty sure MJ held that one apart just for him.

They’re pretty friendly with the other volunteers as well. To begin, there’s Julia. She’s a thirty-year-old high school drop-out who lives with her boyfriend and has two kids. Having known what it’s like to live on the streets, she wants to make sure to help the people in need the same way she was helped back when she dropped out of school.

Then, there’s Timothy and Yann. They’re both twenty-something guys who do some sort of work in a cultural center. Peter doesn’t know too much about their personal lives, other than that they’re living together and sometimes sneak out to make out behind the building, though MJ once told Peter that Yann used to be a girl once. Peter figures there’s no reason not to believe her, though it doesn’t change anything in how he sees the guy. Yann is Yann, and his past is no business of Peter’s.

After that, there’s Luis and Rita, the twin-exchange students from Peru who started this group as a school project and stuck with it even after they’ve graduated. Luis is trying to do something in politics, though what exactly Peter wouldn’t know. Rita switched major and ended up teaching instead. Now she’s happily married with another woman and has only recently announced they’re going to have a baby.

There are more people volunteering here, but these people are the ones they hang out most with. They know Peter and MJ pretty well, too. Hearing that they’re finally together, the group even said they were going to bring champagne for the next meeting – which they did, the idiots…

They’re aware of Johnny, though never having met Felicia or Shuri everybody gets a bit interested. At least they thought of not telling them Shuri’s actually the Princess of Wakanda. Shuri, that sneaky snake who is gaining way too much information on Peter right now.

“And then Peter just appeared there, all dressed up, with the pretty date and all, and he just runs off again,” MJ says with a glint in her eyes. Peter hides his face away in his hand, especially when he sees a couple of the homeless look at him in confusion.

“Jeesh, was there a kitten stuck in a tree or something?” Shuri asks with a wink.

“I don’t know what happened, but five minutes afterwards Ned ran out with him. For a second I thought they were going to confess their love for each other like in a dramatic teenage movie.”

The girls laugh. Johnny pokes Peter in the side.

“I’m sorry, pal, but you’ve never really been good handling the girls, have you?” He asks. Peter pushes him away by his face and hands out the last plate before pulling the apron over his head.

“Says the single idiot towards the guy with an actual relationship,” Peter mutters. Shuri sticks out her tongue towards him.

“Aw, don’t be angry, Petah!” Shuri tells him. She puts her arm on his shoulder and leans against him before pointing towards MJ. “I mean, look at her! She’s a queen on her own!  The queen of America!”

MJ rolls her eyes. “Yeah, no thanks,” she says.

“Queen of New York?”

“I prefer Politically Correct Queen of the Universe,” Felicia adds to it jokingly. MJ gives her a short look before winking.

“I can go with that,” she says. It’s the smile that appears on her face that makes Peter melt a little bit on the inside.

Suddenly, Yann appears with a couple of water bottles with him. Handing one to each of them, he nods towards the exit.

“You can head out if you want! I’m sure you guys would like to go to that Food Truck Festival not far from here,” Yann says, crossing his arms while leaning against the wall with a light smirk on his face. Looking behind him, Peter can catch Timothy staring at his partner with an obvious longing look. It’s clear which two members of this group is going to disappear again for twenty minutes or so.

“You sure? We could all just go after cleaning up here?” Peter suggests. Yann shakes his head.

“Nah, it was a slow evening anyway. We’ll clean up without any trouble. You kids just have fun.”

They all nod. Simultaneously, they take off their aprons and put them down on the table. Then after saying goodbye to everybody (and high-fiving a couple of the homeless they’ve come to befriend), the five of them finally head out.

They take the subway, probably making too much noise. When they get to the festival, there’s loud music playing. A playlist is set up from what could be the seventies. People of all ages are dancing on the dancefloor. As a quick survey, they check out what exactly there is to be found around here. There’s Mexican, Chinese, Turkish, even French specialties. Somewhere, even, Peter spotted some deliciously-smelling Belgian Waffles he already knows he’s going to take one of.

Once everybody has taken something to eat Felicia manages to find a free table for them to sit at. They continue talking, Shuri explaining what’s happening in Wakanda right now. MJ explains how there’s another protest she’s going to in a week. Johnny has nothing much to say other than the parties he’s been going to. Felicia stays quiet, though. Peter doesn’t read into it, some people just don’t like sharing too much about themselves.

But as he sits here, he feels a bit of sadness inside of him. Wasn’t he going to come here with Tony, Steve and Bruce after Octavius’ presentation? What even happened to the guy? Last night he was still in the hospital, but he hasn’t really looked him up again after this.

“Hey, Peter, isn’t that your Dad with my brother?” Shuri suddenly asks, pointing to somewhere over Peter’s shoulder. When he looks behind him, he indeed sees Tony walk there in the crowd of people, accompanied by the King, Bruce and Rhodey. Just a group of guys, causing for a lot of jaws to drop once they’re noticed.

“Wait, _you’re_ Stark’s mystery kid?” Felicia suddenly asks. Peter turns back to her with his mouth open. He had actually forgotten that the girl didn’t know about Peter’s heritage! He’s so used to hanging out with people who know about that detail in his life, he’s not even been trying to hide it away around them.

“Uh, yeah, sorry I never mentioned that,” Peter admits to her. Felicia’s blue eyes just stare at him, studying him. Before anybody else can say anything, Shuri raises her arm and starts waving.

“Hey Brother!” she shouts towards the King, earning their attention almost immediately. Peter’s eyes meet Tony’s instantly, and he awkwardly tries to swallow past a big lump in his throat. “There’s place here!”

“Shuri, what are you doing?” Peter hisses towards her. She just grins at him.

“I want to talk to Colonel Rhodes,” she says simply. Peter slaps his forehead.

“You couldn’t have just walked up to him and do that without getting everybody’s attention on us?”

“Nah, there’s no fun in that.”

A weird atmosphere comes up when the adults reach them, taking place at the empty seats at their table. Peter’s glad he’s seated between MJ and Johnny, so he doesn’t have to be too close to Tony, who is seated at the far corner of the table, looking like he wants to be everywhere but here.

Peter guesses kicking Steve out couldn’t have been the highlight of his day.

So while Shuri starts up a conversation with Rhodey – something about his injury and helping him out – MJ leans towards Peter to give him a reassuring look. Peter smiles at her, taking her hand to squeeze her fingers shortly before letting go of her again.

Bruce and T’Challa are deep in conversation about Vibranium. Johnny and Felicia are doing some sort of game with their hands. Tony is simply looking at his phone and typing down more stuff, probably secretly continuing his research on the black goo they’ve found.

Eventually, MJ pulls Peter along to the dance floor. Surprised that she would actually suggest this, Peter can’t find it in himself to refuse. She holds on to his hand, goes to stand at the side of the crowd and pulls Peter’s arms up to her hips.

“I, uh, I don’t really dance,” Peter says awkwardly. MJ shakes her head before leaning forward, pressing her lips against his ears.

“Neither do I. Just pretend you’re good at it,” she tells him. Before they know it, Felicia and Johnny are on the floor as well, quickly followed by Shuri who doesn’t need a partner to show off her moves. Eventually, it becomes less on dancing with their ‘date’ but more on dancing with the group. Peter’s aware that the adults are looking at them from the sidelines, but he ignores it. He dances with everybody at one point – even Johnny. Nobody asks any questions when suddenly a sixth person joins their group, that one being a quite drunk Wade Wilson.

Peter’s already used to the guy appearing at the most random moments, almost as if the situation asks for it or something. Wade also has the strange habit of suddenly turning his head around and talk to people as if they’re watching their movie. Peter’s pretty much used to it.

So when he dances with Wade – Thor help him – Peter shouldn’t be surprised when his drunk ass comes too close to his face again. Peter pulls back immediately, getting some laughter from the group.

“Dude, stop trying to kiss me all the time,” Peter tells Wade.

“I’m not trying to kiss you!” Wade returns. “I want to know if you’ve seen Yaël! Drinking’s been lonely without her.”

Peter stops in his tracks, frowning as he gives Wade a look. “Dude, she’s been in Asgard ever since that meteor hit the compound, don’t you remember?”

“She is?” Wade asks, confused. “Whoa, how much time has passed since then?”

“Uh, more than a month, dude,” Peter returns. Wade slaps his forehead before Johnny comes hanging over his shoulder.

“Don’t worry, pal! I’ll drink with you,” he says with a wink.

“Nah-ah, you’re not of legal drinking age,” Wade suddenly says. Everybody gives him a blunt look before Wade snorts and slaps Johnny’s shoulder as well. “Just kidding! We should hang out!”

It goes on for a bit before the dance floor starts emptying a bit. Casting a look towards their table, Peter is glad to see Tony clearly in a discussion with Rhodey about something, with T’Challa and Bruce giving them an amused look.

“Say, doesn’t your brother have bodyguards or something?” Peter asks Shuri then when he realizes the two women who were with the King before now aren’t there. Shuri nods and points towards a food stall. There, two women in everyday clothing are seated eating some rice from the Chinese stand, with their eyes stuck on the king with occasionally a look at Shuri.

“They would rather die before letting him go somewhere alone, despite the kick-ass suit I made him.”

“Bodyguards, am I right?” Peter jokes. Shuri laughs again. They leave the dancefloor when the DJ announces he’s about to play the last song. They take place at the table again, Peter takes out his wallet and heads up to get some of those waffles for everybody. He jumps in surprise when he turns around and somebody stands behind him all of the sudden.

“Da-, uh, Mr. Stark?” Peter asks, remembering only right on time that, in public, he’s only his intern.

“You ran away yesterday,” Tony says shortly, with his hands in his pockets. At least he’s not wearing his glasses. Peter clears his throat, looking down at his feet with his waffles in his hands.

“Can you blame me?” he asks. Looking up again, he gives Tony a hopeful look. Thankfully, amount of people in the park is thinning out, so there aren’t too many people listening along to this.

“I guess not,” Tony mutters. Then, with a loud sigh, he, too, looks Peter right in the eyes. That’s when Peter realizes how awful Tony must be feeling right now. He can read it in Tony’s gaze, seeing that wetness, the tears that are threatening to emerge. “I kicked Steve out.”

“Dude…” Peter mutters, giving Tony an unimpressed look. “Why do you keep on doing that?”

“Because I’m an idiot?” Tony tries, giving him a light smile. It’s not convincing at all. If they weren’t in public, Peter would have hugged him or something. Tony looks like he’s been feeling horrible for a while now, and nobody’s really there to listen to him. Not even Peter, which tells a lot about him, doesn’t it? 

“Listen, when he gets back in New York, just talk to him, alright?” Peter suggests. Tony shrugs, reaching out a hand and taking five of the waffles Peter is carrying along. Then he offers him a light smile.

“I’m sorry I flipped out,” Tony suddenly says as they start walking back. “I know it seems like I’m smothering you all the time, but I promise I have my reasons for it.”

“Then tell me,” Peter almost begs. “Tell me what happened. Maybe I can work on it?” But Tony shakes his head, suddenly stopping in his tracks while giving Peter a long look.

“It’s just… It’s not something I can just say right here, right now… We need a more… secluded spot. And Steve.”

Peter rolls his eyes. “If we have to wait for Steve, you better start calling him up right away.”

Tony doesn’t smile, which makes Peter think that it’s serious enough. Not really in the mood for that right now, he resumes the walk back to the table. There, he hands out waffles to everybody, getting appreciative looks in return.

The evening comes to a close when MJ and Felicia suddenly announce that they’re heading back home. Johnny, ever the gentleman, offers to walk them home to make sure they get back safely. They say goodbye to everybody before heading out, with Wade following them (hoping he can get his drinking-evening with Johnny) Peter at first thought of joining them, but he realizes his stuff is still in the tower and he has to go pick it up. Tomorrow, class luckily only starts in the afternoon, so he might as well just spend the night in the tower.

So the adults starts heading out as well. Shuri and Peter follow close behind, Shuri’s arm crossed into Peter’s as they walk down the street. When they all suddenly stop in front of a large car, Peter realizes they haven’t come here by foot. He shouldn’t have been surprised.

By the time he’s back at the tower, he says goodnight to everybody before heading towards his room.

 

* * *

 

 

The princess is helping Rhodey.

Tony looks at it happening from the sidelines, watching the princess explain how she’s going to do it to the man Tony considers as a brother; the man who never deserved to end up paralyzed from the waist down.

Rhodey looks excited. Tony’s glad. Maybe _he_ couldn’t be the one to fix his best friend, but he’s glad _somebody_ is able to help him. More than Tony helped him, at least. Then again, Tony barely helped him since it’s because of him that he even was at that airport in Leipzig.

Bruce is back on his floor. T’Challa is seated next to Nakia on the couch of the penthouse, watching his sister as she explains excitedly how she already helped Evy Ross with the same kind of problem or whatever. Tony’s not sure what exactly happened back there in Wakanda – he was too busy screwing up his liver to really notice.

Tony holds in a sigh while he waits for Peter to emerge from his room. He figures the kid won’t be staying here after that awful fight from yesterday. Sure, they talked a bit after it, but Tony doesn’t think that little conversation changed anything.

“You look troubled, Anthony,” T’Challa suddenly says, getting the attention of Nakia and Okoye as well. The latter is just standing by the large windows of the balcony, looking outside as if she’s expecting trouble even from this high. Knowing their luck, she could be right.

“What makes you say that?” Tony asks. Rhodey rolls his eyes.

“It is written all over your face,” T’Challa continues before Nakia, too, starts to nod.

“Indeed. Is there something troubling you?” the woman asks.

“You mean aside of the fact that he’s just kicked his boyfriend out of the house for the eleventh time because he’s on this idiotic quest to deal with his problems by himself?” Rhodey throws in before Tony can respond.

“Oh, T’Challa is like that, too, sometimes,” Nakia returns. Tony shakes his head and frowns at her. “I mean with the dealing with his problems by himself-part. The kicking me out-part he hasn’t even dared to try, yet.”

Tony snorts, amused by her cheerfulness. “Yeah, well, Steve kept on pushing my worries into my face and I was tired of assuring him that I didn’t blame him…” Tony scratches his head while he takes a deep breath. Nakia, T’Challa and Rhodey give him a long look while they wait for him to continue. “I just… needed him out of here before I started blaming him anyway.”

“You know, there’s nothing wrong with some time apart once or twice. Healthy couples argue a lot, after all,” Nakia says, giving T’Challa a loving look that makes even Tony want to look away. He clears his throat, eyes stuck on the floor.

“Him and Steve don’t just argue. The place is a freakin’ warzone when they’re at it. Peter always escapes down to Bruce’s level whenever he’s here and they’re at it again.” Tony pinches Rhodey in the arm, which makes the guy yelp in surprise and pain.

“Poor Petah,” Shuri mutters, turning her head in the direction of Peter’s bedroom. “I guess I should see how he’s doing.”

With that, Shuri puts down the tablet she’d been using to explain to Rhodey how she’s going to help him and heads into the direction Peter was going.  For a second, Tony wonders if he should be the one to check on Peter. Then he decides that if Peter needs him, he’ll find him eventually. Tony stays seated on his spot of the couch and turns back to his guests, only to raise his eyebrows when he notices them all staring at him.

“You’re losing it, aren’t you?” Rhodey suddenly asks.

“What?! No!” Tony almost shouts back.

“As if! You haven’t been right since after what happened at the war!” Rhodey returns. “Have you even told Peter yet?”

“It’s none of your business, Rhodes,” Tony snaps. Rhodey doesn’t accept that answer.

“As if it isn’t.” Rhodey crosses his arms and stares Tony down. “Tony you experienced the worst thing imaginable for any parent. And I’m sorry that you had to go through that back then. But your paranoia over Peter’s safety is going to chase everybody off.”

“What exactly happened?” T’Challa suddenly asks, confused about the whole ordeal. Tony just keeps on staring at Rhodey while the latter starts explaining.

“Somehow, don't ask me how, they travelled back to a point in time before Thanos ever invaded us, though before that happened, in that alternate timeline-“

“Rhodey,” Tony warns him. Rhodey ignores him

“- with many casualties, Peter, too, died.”

Tony glares at his best friend, biting down the strong urge to punch him in the face. He ignores the sad looks he gets from the others, feeling only so close to kick everybody out.

“That must have been horrible,” T’Challa says, sadly. “But how come you remember and we don’t?

“I'm afraid you weren't there anymore,” Rhodey explains. “Neither was Nakia as far as I know. Okoye was there, but she hadn't been involved with the whole time-travel part I guess.”

A silence falls over the room before Tony clears his throat and stands up.

“Right, not that it wasn’t fun to catch up and all, I really feel like I need to go to sleep now. “

Tony doesn’t care if he’s impolite. He needs an out, just for right now. He needs a moment to himself with no other human around him.

“Right, I’ll get Shuri and we’ll go to the floor you’ve given us,” T’Challa says kindly, offering a hand to Tony to shake it. “I must thank you again for your hospitality. Tomorrow we’ll continue our business, alright?”

Tony takes his hand, nodding while forcing a smile on his face.

“Of course,” he says. Nakia, too, comes to shake his hand. Okoye, ever the warrior she is, only nods from where she’s standing. Just for one short second, her attention is gone from the king to him, only to revert back to its normal settings right after that. Tony doesn’t take insult.

“I suppose I’ll head out as well,” Rhodey then says. He stands up and takes his coat. “Let me walk you to your floor before I leave?”

Nakia and Okoye nod, while T’Challa heads towards the hallway where Peter and Shuri disappeared to. Tony puts his hands in his pockets, waititng for the sweet relief of being alone again. Or, as alone as he could be, with Peter still in the penthouse. Maybe it’s a good thing he didn’t go back and left Tony here all on his own. Who knows what could have happened with that brain of his.

He can just imagine Pepper storming back into his room, kicking him out of bed again because he just invented a talking toaster or something like that. No, thanks!

By the time his Royal visitors and traitor best friend have left, Tony lets out a long breath. That fake smile that has been plastered on his face the entire evening finally disappears. He loosens his shoulders, rubs his neck and looks down at the floor.

Being Tony Stark is _really_ exhausting. It’s always been, trying to keep up that front, that image he built up. Right now, he could just use an entire week of just being Tony. Tony the greasemonkey who needs his Steve by his side. Tony the engineer who likes to tinker along with his son.

He shakes his head again.

“Dad, are you alright?”

Tony turns around in surprise, not having heard Peter enter the room. He’s already in his sleeping wear, his hair messy and dark circles under his eyes. He looks tired, like he’s about ready for sleep.

“Sure, I’m fine,” Tony lies. He doesn’t even know why. “No, that’s not true. I’m feeling like shit.” Tony starts laughing before passing his hand over his face.

“You miss Steve, don’t you?” Peter tries.

“Amongst things, yeah,” Tony returns. “Listen, son, I’m tired and I just need to go to bed. You’re still here tomorrow?”

Peter shakes his head. “No, classes start again. I’ll still be here in the morning, though. At least until eleven.”

Tony nods. “Right, we’ll talk then, maybe?” Peter, too, nods.

“Alright, good night, Dad.” With that, the teenager turns around and heads back to his room. Tony, in the meantime, lets out another deep sigh before walking towards the balcony. The moment he’s outside, he realizes how chilly it’s become in the evening. Summer’s over, that’s clear enough. Still, not bothering to get back inside and grab his coat, Tony walks up to the railing and looks down at the city underneath him.

All these people, having their _normal_ lives with their _normal_ problems. Often, Tony finds himself envying them. In a lot of occasions he finds himself wondering to himself what his life would have been like had it been different.

What if his Dad hadn’t started Stark Industries? What if they would have kept their son out of the tabloids? What if they’d never died? What if Mary had decided to leave Richard and be with Tony? What if he’d known about Peter from the beginning? He figures his life would have been completely different.

Would he even have met Steve? He shivers at the thought of never having met him.

“Sir, I would advise you to get back inside and head to bed,” FRIDAY offers all of a sudden. Tony looks up at the dark sky, wondering how late it is.

“How long have I been out here?” he asks.

“About an hour and half, sir. I fear you might catch a cold if you do not return inside.”

Tony nods, getting back to his feet – when did he even sit down? – and turning back inside.

“Any word on Steve and the other Avengers?” Tony asks.

“Ms. Romanoff has asked me to pass along this message.” On the TV screen, a video-message comes up. Tony probably forgot to unmute the incoming calls. He wonders how many he’s gotten in the past two days or so?

“ _Hey, Tony. So, we’ve safely arrived in New Asgard. Things are good here, the weather’s nice, if not a bit cold in comparison to New York. Thor told us the details about this secret mission of his, but I’m afraid I can’t tell you over the phone. It’s really secret. I do hope you decide to head to New Asgard, anyway. I’m sure Steve would appreciate it.”_

Then Natasha presses her lips together and shakes her head.

“ _Listen, Tony. I know you’re feeling like crap. You’ve got a right to feel like crap. But it seems like you keep on forgetting that we’re here to talk to you about this stuff. And it doesn’t have to be me, per se. Or Steve. Or Rhodey. I’m sure Clint, Sam, or even James would listen to you. Stop carrying these burdens on your own and let your team help you.”_

Natasha on the screen passes a hand over her face.

“ _Steve’s been in a bad mood the entire day. Everybody’s on edge. We don’t want you to do anything stupid, the last break-up was bad enough. Just… don’t forget you’re not alone in this, alright?”_

Tony only realizes tears are rolling down from his cheeks after that. He wipes them away quickly, sniffs his nose, and breathes out heavily. He sometimes forgets how much Natasha seems to care, sometimes. After reading up on her past, knowing what kind of person she used to be in the past, Tony never really thought of her as a team-player. She was a killer, and a damn good one. In many ways, she keeps on surprising him, still.

“FRI, are there any other messages?” Tony then asks.

“ _This was the only message received_ ,” FRIDAY returns.

“Anything from Steve?” he still tries, not believing that Steve wouldn’t have sent him anything.

“ _Negative. Captain Rogers has not left any messages. Do you wish for me to call him?”_  

Tony itches on telling her no. On one hand he doesn’t want to face him just yet. He isn’t ready for the shameful apology he hasn’t even prepared yet. But eventually he surprises himself when he finds himself saying: “Yeah, call him up.”

And he’s hopeful. For ten minutes, he keeps his hopes up. But when, after that, Steve still doesn’t pick up, Tony figures the guy just doesn’t want to talk to him. And it hurts, a whole lot. No matter how often he tries, all he gets is voicemail. And not because Steve’s away; the guy actively declines the call, and eventually even turns off his phone.

Holy shit, Tony actually pissed him off.

“ _This is Steve Rogers, I’m currently not available, but feel free to leave a message after the tone and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.”_

Tony just calls him now to hear his voice again and again. He squeezes his fingers in his eyes, trying to hold back the new crying fit. He would blame the lack of effectivity of his medication, but antidepressants only take you one part of the way. Tony knew from the beginning that he would still feel episodes like these, and that they would pass eventually.

Only, eventually seems to be lightyears away, right now.

“Steve, hi, uh,” Tony starts after his twentieth attempt. “I know, you’re angry. I would be angry, too. I said some bad shit and I insulted you in the process. I’m sorry, I never meant for that. I can’t keep my emotions in check, and I should have talked to you instead of holding it in.”

Tony sighs, looking up at the ceiling.

“I miss you. I miss you so fucking much, and I feel like I’m going to fall apart, but I know it’s my own damn fault. So, just… I’m not begging you to come back. I just- I didn’t… kick you out. Listen, I’m not making sense, but… When you’re ready, just… come home, okay?”

Tony bites his lower lip.

“I love you, Steve. And I’m sorry.” After that, he signals for FRIDAY to stop the call. He drops down on the couch, wondering how long it’ll take for him to finally get into bed.

“Sir, Spider-Man has been spotted in the city, but according to the sensor the suit is still in Peter’s shared apartment with Mr. Storm.”

Tony hums. Blinking twice before shaking his head. That sneaky kid…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't be afraid to let me know what you think. Is there something that there should be more of? Things that are a bit boring and dragged out too long? I take any feedback I get!


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter warnings:  
> \- massive moodswings  
> \- Mentions of Drug intake (willingly)  
> \- Drunk people  
> \- Unrequited love/crush

Peter wakes up feeling even more tired than when he went to sleep yesterday. Despite the fact that he went to bed at a reasonable hour, Peter feels like he only went to bed at four in the morning. He groans, stretches his limbs while still lying down, and then reaches out to stop his alarm clock.

The moment he’s up, he gets out of his sleeping wear. Without further thought, he grabs some random clothes and decides to take a quick shower to wake up a bit. He wonders if he might be getting sick or something. Is that even possible for him?

It’s when he jumps out of the shower that he takes a good look at his reflection. Much to his surprise, he finds his whole chest covered in bruises, as well as his legs. What the hell happened? Peter certainly didn’t go to sleep like this, that’s for sure!

Should he ask Tony? Or maybe that’ll make the guy worry even more than before? It’s probably not such a good idea, after all. He might be getting a constant hovering Tony after that. Maybe a babysitter while Peter’s out on patrol. Nah, better to keep him in the dark.

He gets dressed quickly, making sure his hair is not too much of a mess. Then, in a hurry, he gets out of the bathroom to grab a quick breakfast. He’s glad he packed his bags yesterday, so he doesn’t have to worry about that anymore.

He’s surprised to see Tony seated at the table as well, his eyes stuck to a tablet while he sips on his coffee. Given the number of pads that have hastily been dropped on the counter, Peter figures that’s not his first, nor second cup this morning.

“Hi, Dad,” Peter greets Tony, surprised by his own cracking voice. He sounds hoarse, like he’s been screaming the entire night! What the hell happened to him?

“Peter,” Tony greets him simply without looking up. It makes the boy frown in confusion. He heads towards the coffee machine to clean up the pads before putting a mug with milk into the microwave.

“Something wrong?” Peter dares to ask. He knows there’s a lot of things wrong with his dad, but there are a few occasions where he figures there’s something _extra_ wrong.

“I’m peachy,” Tony returns dryly. “Though I figure you would be tired, after all that patrolling the entire night.”

“Patrolling?” Peter asks. “I didn’t go patrolling? I went to sleep after we spoke to each other?” The microwave beeps. Peter reaches up to get his mug out. Then he takes the cacao powder and prepares his chocolate milk.

“Sure you did,” Tony returns with a glare. “Except, Spider-Man has been spotted in the city until five in the morning. Care to explain that?”

Peter stops mid-movement, giving Tony another confused look. Then he shakes his head.

“I _really_ have no clue what you’re talking about. You’re sure it’s me and not just some copy-cat or something?” he tries.

“Don’t bullshit me, Peter. You weren’t in your room the entire night!”               

“I- I wasn’t?” Peter can’t even find it in himself to react to the sudden snap he’s getting from Tony. Sure, the guy’s clearly pissed off and ready to start throwing insults all around the place, but Peter doesn’t care. Because his father’s not making any sense at all.

“And the worst part about it all is to find out that FRIDAY can’t even track you anymore! What if something would have happened, and we couldn’t find you? I didn’t put in that tracker to stalk you, Peter! I would only use it for emergencies!”

“Wait, then how did you know it wasn’t with me?” Peter asks, starting to get annoyed anyway. It’s too early in the morning for this shit.

“You’ve been behaving like this… I don’t know! You’re starting to get out of control, Peter! What happened?”

“I’m not behaving any differently than before, seriously, Dad! Don’t pull that crap on me!”

Tony just glares at him. It feels like the apology from yesterday is just… forgotten. It matters no more. Peter balls up his fists, letting out a loud breath through his nose.

“You know what? I’m leaving. I don’t need this shit.” Peter gets up from where he was sitting, his hot coco completely forgotten as he starts his way back to his room.

“Yeah, because it’s so easy to leave me, apparently,” Tony bites back. Peter turns around, pointing a finger Tony’s way.

“Then maybe the problem’s in you, isn’t it?” Peter snaps, before his eyes open up wide and his hand covers his mouth. Tony glares at him, unmoving for a whole minute before he, too gets to his feet.

“Fine, whatever. Leave. I’m not stopping you.”

“Dad-“ Peter tries. Tony shakes his head.

“Just go, Peter.” The man leaves his breakfast for what it is and heads towards the elevator.

“No, Dad, I didn’t mean-“

“JUST GO!”

Peter’s mouth snaps shut, his eyes wide from surprise. Is his dad finally losing it? Should Peter call up Steve? Or would Tony be angry that he tried to meddle? Peter hesitates for a few moments longer before deciding to just listen. He heads into the opposite direction, grabbing his suitcase and everything else he needs for the week. Looking at the room, he figures he won’t be seeing it for another two weeks, maybe longer if his dad keeps on acting up like this. Peter really should reach out to the other Avengers.

So Peter leaves.

He and Tony don’t speak for the remainder of the week. And the week after that.

 

* * *

 

 

The parties come and go. Peter joins Johnny more often than not, always waking up with the biggest hangover he can even imagine and missing his first few classes of the day.

At the campus, people start noticing him. Going to parties makes him a familiar figure to most of the partygoers. They all constantly greet him, slapping him on the back or inviting him to the next get together they’re organizing. And Peter just accepts their invites without any trouble.

It sounds like a lot of fun, anyway.

Perhaps the weirdest thing that has happened so far is the fact that Flash has gone from a foe to a somewhat friend. Sure, things are still weird, but Flash is no longer on the opposite side, whichever side that might be.

“ _Look, I just realized you’re not all that bad. Besides, you stuck up for me when Eddy came at me, so I owe you for that, I guess. Though I could probably have broken his nose myself, too.”_

Even when Flash is on his side, he still wants to be the best. Just to prove that, the guy went up and punched another guy a massive nosebleed when he was trying to get too frisky with Felicia. Sure, he got himself a warning from the school, but apparently his manhood has been rescued or whatever else is going on in Flash’ mind.

Peter doesn’t pay too much attention to Flash, finding the guy’s still a dick despite his sudden turn in behavior. Instead, he keeps himself busy with catching up on his favorite shows, patrolling the streets and after a while even missing a few of his classes. Having bought the latest Assassin’s Creed at last (Peter forgot it came out a few months ago), he’s finding himself binge-playing through the entire game.

He even gets a remark from Johnny when the guy comes home from school.

“Dude, you’re skipping classes? Not cool,” Johnny mumbles at him. Peter flips him off without giving him a glance, reaching for his energy drink and taking a large swing. “Aren’t you like the biggest ball of energy around? Do you really need more than that?”

“You know what, Johnny? How about you go suck on a lemon for a change and leave me the fuck alone, huh?”

Johnny frowns. Peter does, too. Johnny crosses his arms, Peter doesn’t move.

“Now you’re being a dick, I was just trying to help,” Johnny returns. He sounds insulted. Normally, Peter would have regretted his words and apologized. Now, somehow, he feels like he’s just having a bad day and being friendly is not really an option for him right now.

“Listen, dude, I don’t need shit today, okay?” Peter asks. There’s no obvious reason as to why TODAY of all days would be such a pain in the ass. Peter’s just in a mood and Johnny’s complaining isn’t really helping with it.

“MJ called me. She asked if you were still alive since your phone seems to be turned off. For two days already.”

Peter rolls his eyes, looking up at the ceiling. Even that remark is irritating him! Why does he have so little patience today? Everybody should just go fuck themselves, that’s what Peter’s thinking.

He continues the game without explaining anything to Johnny, who walks to the couch to grab the phone.

“Of course, your battery is dead. Maybe you should charge it?” he suggests. Peter suddenly throws the controller across the room, smashing it in pieces. Then he takes his phone from Johnny’s hand and does the exact same thing.

“Here, now the phone itself is dead! Can you just leave me the fuck alone now?”

Johnny’s eyes are open wide as he looks at the two destroyed devices around him. While Peter reaches for the second controller and connects it to the PlayStation, the other guy kneels down and starts collecting the pieces lying on the ground. He gives them a short look before turning towards Peter, eyes clearly worried.

“If you’re going to say something about me not acting like myself, just swallow it back in. I’m not in the mood,” Peter snaps at him before he can even speak. Johnny’s mouth closes again. He looks at Peter for five seconds longer before he finally leaves him alone.

And Peter keeps on playing. FRIDAY, nor Karen, pass along any messages coming from Tony or Steve. Last weekend he went to see Aunt May, but she’s on leave right now, having followed Rhodey to Wakanda to guide him through his rehabilitation. Peter would have joined them on any other moment, but when May came to pass along the message, all he felt was relief.

 _Yes, one less person that worries about me this weekend,_ he had told himself.

He can’t really say what happened. After his latest argument with his dad, he figures he’s just had about enough of it; the constant accusations, the doubts, the lack of trust. He’s always tried his best to be a good son, but apparently it’s never enough. And he’s tired of it.

If Tony wants to keep on pushing everybody away, then Peter won’t try to fight it anymore. If the guy’s happier that way, it’s none of Peter’s fucking business.

“Johnny!” Peter suddenly shouts. Behind him, the door to Johnny’s room opens.

“Yeah?” he asks.

“There another party tonight?”

Johnny stays quiet for a moment. Long enough for Peter to pause the game and look behind him, where he sees Johnny looking doubtful, with furrowed eyebrows and a scowl on his face.

“Dude, who shat in your coffee this morning?” Peter asks.

“Fuck off, dude,” Johnny returns before turning back around. “There’s a party at seven in Katie’s house.”

Peter doesn’t thank him, because Johnny’s already closed the door back behind him. While the game is still paused, he reaches next to him, grabbing for his phone. But it’s then that he remembers throwing it across the room.

Right…

For a moment, Peter looks at his hands. Did he seriously destroy his phone like that? And his goddamn controller? That shit ain’t cheap! With a grunt, Peter jumps up from the couch, putting the last controller safely on the table right after saving his game. Without turning off the device, he heads to the remains of his cellphone and takes out his memory card and SIM.

In his bedroom, he snatches his wallet, taking a look at the money he currently has. He can use his card to buy a phone, he figures. If he finds one on the way, he’ll even get another controller. Or maybe two. It’s not like he’s poor, after all.

Peter grabs his coat and tugs his scarf around his neck. With wide steps, he reaches for the door. When he opens it, he startles once he finds somebody standing behind it, ready to knock.

“Felicia?” he asks, confused. The girl’s eyes are open wide, a surprised sound coming out of her mouth.

“Oh, Peter! I was just going to say hello, see how you were doing? Johnny said you weren’t feeling too well?” she says. Peter takes in the bright blue eyes looking back at him. Just for a short second, he catches something weird about them. Like…

“Are you wearing contacts?” he asks. Felicia blinks a few times before frowning.

“Uh, yeah,” she says, lowering her eyes to keep Peter from looking at them. “I have bad eyesight.”

“But those are colored lenses?” Peter continues. Felicia looks up again, a bitter look on her face.

“You know, how about that’s not any of your business, okay?” she snaps before putting her hand against her lips. “Oh my God, I didn’t mean to snap! It’s just… personal.”

Peter takes in the apologetic expression for a few more seconds before shrugging.

“Where you headed somewhere?” she continues, trying to shift the conversation.

“Yeah, my phone broke so I’m going for a new one,” he says. “I was just heading out. You can come along if you want.”

It’s not a question, not an invitation. If Felicia wants to follow him into the city, he’s not going to stop her. Heck, maybe talking to her will do something about this horrible mood he’s been having lately.

“What happened to your phone?” she asks, following him back to the elevator but then tugging on his arm. “The elevator doesn’t work, I took the stairs.”

Peter rolls his eyes but does as she says and heads for the stairs instead. “I threw it against the wall,” he says while opening the door.

“Why did you do that?” Felicia sounds confused.

“Because I was pissed? Still am, actually…”

“But… why?”

That wonder, that confusion in Felicia’s voice. Peter’s not sure if she’s actually that naïve, or if she’s faking it. If she is, she’s a really good actress, but nobody can really be this innocent, can they?

“I don’t know,” Peter admits. “My Dad’s pissing me off, Johnny was pissing me off. Steve is pissing me off. The goddamn Avengers have been gone for almost two weeks with close to nothing to report about this fucking secret mission, and meanwhile I’m just sitting here, going to stupid classes that I’m too smart for anyway!”

“Jeesh, calm down, Peter,” Felicia mutters. They’re finally outside after that, and Peter takes a large gulp of fresh air. Or, as fresh as the air can be in such a large city as New York. “Besides, what else could you do? You don’t fight crime and disasters like the Avengers?”

Peter scoffs. As if… For a moment he just wishes he could tell her, but the only three persons who know are Harry, who is still in Paris, Ned who is in MIT, and Johnny who is currently still pissing Peter off. Having a roommate was never supposed to be easy, everybody told him, but Peter’s just about ready to just buy a place of his own and stay there alone.

He can’t do that, of course. It’s just his annoying mood giving him plans he can’t follow through.

“I know, it’s just… I don’t know,” Peter mutters back, deciding to bite his tongue about it. “It’s like everybody just… leaves, you know?”

He feels a hand on his shoulder all of the sudden, startling him to a point where he jumps off the ground. Turning towards Felicia, he finds her blue eyes looking up at him, giving him an expression he recognizes from somewhere. It’s not pity, luckily. It’s understanding.

He remembers. It’s a look he got from Gwen when he broke up with her that first time. It’s the look he got from Gwen’s brothers, when Peter said goodbye. It’s the look he got from Tony when he announced that Steve wasn’t coming back.

Peter doesn’t really feel like having an emotional talk right now. His emotions are all over the place; one moment he’s pissed, and the next he’s at the verge of crying his eyes out because of abandonment issues. He should get it together.

“Hey, I understand it,” Felicia says. “I know what it’s like to have everybody leave, but you know what helps me through the day?”

Peter shakes his head.

“The people who stay,” she says with a smile on her face. “People leave. It’s what happens in life. What matters are the people who decide to stay by your side through it all.”

Peter hums. He can get that way of thinking, but the people leaving him don’t always have a choice. His parents, Uncle Ben, Gwen… Sure, he’s far from alone now, but with Harry leaving, Ned heading off to MIT and studying really hard for it, and now all the other Avengers… The fact that he can’t spend one evening with his father without the two of them shouting at each other doesn’t help. 

Peter fakes a smile. It fools Felicia, who squeezes his shoulder one more time before giving it a light punch.

“C’mon, I’ll get you to a great shop,” she says, taking him by the arm and pulling him along. Peter just follows as she guides him through the streets. When they get to a cross point, they wait for the light to turn red. A short look to the side gives Peter a full view on the newest newspaper from today. With a frown, he detaches himself from Felicia and heads towards it.

“What the-?” he starts, noticing the picture on the front page. It doesn’t seem possible, but it’s very recognizable. He can see himself – or Spider-Man, rather. There’s a shim next to him on the picture, the face faded due to movement but the rest of her body clear enough to show who it is.

The Black Cat…?

_SPIDER-MAN AND THE MYSTERIOUS CAT A TEAM?_

Peter takes the paper and skips towards the actual article, where there are more pictures shown that were taken. But when? Sure, Peter remembers coming across the Black Cat a few times more in the past few weeks (almost once every two days), but after the usual flirting from her side Peter always skips off to get back to his duties.

_For the past few days, New York’s Spider-Man has been spotted in the streets with a mysterious masked woman. They always appear at night, and have been seen working together in multiple robberies or muggings. As to who this mysterious woman is and where she came from, nobody has any idea. So far, no clear picture has been taken of her._

_Many questions have come from the public; is she on the good side? What is her name? What are her intentions? What exactly his her relationship with Spider-Man? So far, nobody-_

“Peter, what’s that?” Felicia asks all of the sudden, pulling Peter out of the article. She leans up, reading along over his shoulder in a speed tempo. Then she smirks, putting out her tongue playfully. “My guess is that they’re a thing.”

Peter almost drops the newspaper in surprise and horror at the same time. Why would she think that? Just because heroes work together doesn’t mean that said heroes are in a relationship, right?

“Don’t look so shocked! Superheroes have relationships and personal lives, too. Heck, your family is the biggest example of that,” she says, patting him on the chest and pulling the paper out of his hand to put it back on the stall. Then she crosses her arm back into Peter’s and guides him over the rode. Peter hadn’t even noticed the lights turning green.

“I know, it’s just… Nobody really knows a lot about Spider-Man, and this Cat-person just really came out of nowhere and…” Peter scratches his hair, trying to ignore that weird feeling going through him at the idea of him together with the Cat. Shit, he doesn’t even know her damn name, while she’s been calling him Bee for the past few days.

“I guess he doesn’t really want to share things like that,” Felicia returns. Then she makes an abrupt turn towards a door, leading Peter inside. “Here we are.”

With that, the conversation is over. They don’t bring it up again after Peter’s bought his new phone. Even after he got the new controller for the Playstation, he feels better about not mentioning Spider-Man or the Black Cat again.

Felicia heads on home after that. While Peter goes back to the apartment to get ready for the party Johnny mentioned, Felicia gives him another playful wink and clicks her tongue at him as a way of saying goodbye. Peter rolls his eyes but waves back as she jumps into the cab that just stopped for her.

Walking back home feels good, it gets his mind right for a bit. The mentioning of the Black Cat always brings him into this confused state, and he never really knows what to do with it. The best thing is to just forget about it and get distraction. He figures a party is the best distraction, no?

Johnny is at the verge of heading out when Peter arrives back home. Peter hesitates on just letting him head out already. He might have been an asshole towards him earlier, but surely Johnny is not one to hold grudges, right?

Luckily, Johnny makes the decision for him. The moment he notices Peter, he gives him an unimpressed look before leaning against the wall, closing the door again the moment Peter’s inside.

“Hurry up or I’m leaving without you,” Johnny says, crossing his arms. Peter blinks at him, wondering if this is the point where he should apologize or not? He could, but he’s not sure he’s not going to snap at him again later in the week. Peter looks down at his hands, realizing they’re shaking. “Jesus, Peter, have you been sleeping at all lately?”

Peter raises his head again. Does he look that tired?

“I’ve, uh, been on nightly missions,” he says. After that, he starts moving towards his bedroom. He’s not going to change too much. The shirt he’s wearing is good enough with a dark jacket on it, and he’s already wearing his shoes. He just puts his money and cards out of his wallet before putting that one into his jacket. Then he drops the box of his new phone on his bed. The phone hasn’t been turned on yet, so he quickly does that before running towards the bathroom.

His hair is a mess. It’ll probably always be a mess. He gives it no attention, checking out his face instead. There _are_ dark circles under his eyes. He looks pale, his eyes red. He’s the perfect description of a sleep-deprived person!

Shit, how long has this been going on?

“Is Felicia going to grace us with her presence tonight?” Johnny asks once Peter’s back. Peter just shakes his head and heads towards the door. Johnny closes it behind him, locking it while Peter starts heading towards the door that leads to the stairwell.

“Nah, she said something about some business to take care off,” Peter returns. Of course Johnny would want to know about Felicia, he _has_ been trying to get her attention now for the past two weeks. Peter doesn’t mind at all, if only he distracts her a bit from her strange focus on Peter.

“Talked to MJ at all today?” Johnny continues. Peter looks down at the phone, typing down his PIN and waiting for the messages to come in. And there are a few. At first some casual messages from MJ, where she tells him she’s heading to her grandmother in Oakland. The next one is some random memory she shares of when her grandmother took her to Coney Island and they got stuck on the ferris wheel for almost an entire hour. The third message is one where she adds into detail that she got scared from the height and had started puking in the cabinet they were in. It goes on and on, random messages.

By the time he gets to the eighth message, MJ seems to realize something’s up. She asks him if he could call when he gets this message. The next few are the same, until she threatens to call up Tony if he doesn’t answer soon.

The last message is her telling him that she heard from Johnny that he’s fine, and to figure out his shit. Peter swallows through a lump in his throat. The cab they’ve taken stops in front of their destination by the time he’s finished reading through everything.

“Dude, you plannin’ on getting drunk?” Johnny asks all of the sudden. Peter turns to him, pulled out of his focus on the phone. It’s a good phone, too, with a nice screen. Probably a bit too expensive than what he would normally go for. It’s also rather large, and a miracle that it even fits in his pants.

“Uh, I’m not sure yet,” Peter returns. They get out of the cab, splitting the bill as always. Then Johnny, surprisingly, throws an arm over Peter’s shoulder, acting like Peter hadn’t been acting like an ass the entire day.

“I’ll keep my eye on you, pal. You always disappear around midnight and I’m still curious as to where you’re going all the time.”

Johnny said this before once or twice. Peter wonders about it, but figures he’s just too drunk to really remember it. Surely, it’s not that important, right? They wander into the building, the loud music hitting them almost literally in the face when a dancing couple nearly smashes against them in their enthusiasm. The two girls are barely dressed, their hands caressing each other’s skin like they’re more than ready to start having sex on the spot. Peter clears his throat and Johnny and he hurry up towards the bar.

Without the medications holding him back, Peter feels freer than ever. A girl from a grade higher than him asks him if he wants to dance. He nods and joins her, getting another bottle of beer pushed in the hands. He drinks from it, but doesn’t enjoy the taste at all. It’s bitter, bites at his tongue. But everybody’s doing it, and Peter’s not going back to being the loser of the school!

The one girl turns into another one. Until he’s dancing with another guy, instead. After that, it’s a whole group of teens. It’s never anything special, just two people turned towards each other, drinking and moving their bodies in the rhythm of the music. Peter barely even realizes it when his ‘dance partner’ disappears again and another one has taken their place.

Peter’s aware that his phone is ringing in his pocket. He ignores it, ignores the beer being spilled over his clothes. Ignores the girl that slaps his but and winks at him when he faces her. When one girl comes up to him and almost starts kissing him, he takes a step back and holds up his hands. Without any explanation, he turns around. He doesn’t need to explain himself here. People shouldn’t just start kissing people because they want to.

At one point, the person Peter’s dancing with is Johnny, who seems to have lost his quest for the day and is already pretty far gone. The guy’s blonde hair is slicked back instead of in its messy, long state. His eyes are glassy, red even. Peter’s not even sure if alcohol is the only thing the guy took. It wouldn’t be surprising, given the color of his eyes.

Johnny has no concept of personal space. He comes up to Peter, hugs him and barely even lets him go while he starts telling him with a large slur how he’s so glad Peter wants to hang out with him, or how he’s just ready to change up his life and make something out of it. Peter tries not to think too much about it.

There are no slow songs, which is at least something. Still, at one point Johnny has his arm draped over Peter’s shoulders again, a bottle between them while Johnny is telling him something he can’t really understand over the loud music.

“Dude, aren’t you supposed to get your flirt of the day right now?” Peter tries. Johnny blinks in confusion before looking around. That arm around Peter’s neck never really disappears. Johnny hiccups before being pushed forward, even closer to Peter.

“Nah I don wanna right now,” Johnny explains, his language tainted by whatever he’s under the influence of. “Is always the same with one-night stands and Im tired.”

“Dude, you’re like the one-night-stand-king of us all?”

“Zjust a distraction anyway,” Johnny continues as if Peter hasn’t spoken. “Iknow who I wan’, but I cant do anythin’ ‘bout it.”

Felicia, right. Peter had no idea that his feelings for the girl were so deep? It’s surprising, but at the same time Peter can only wish that it would work out between the two of them. Johnny surely deserves it.

“You should just… do it. Take it into your own hands, Johnny,” Peter assures him with a reassuring smile. He closes his eyes and leans his head against Johnny’s while they listen to the music going on.

Much to his surprise, two hands suddenly touch on his face. The arm around Peter’s neck is gone, and Johnny moves his head away so Peter has to look up again. Seeing Johnny in front of him all of the sudden, his eyes widen in surprise.

“Johnny?” he asks, confused.

“Jus takin it inma own hands,” Johnny slurs out, right before pulling Peter’s face closer.

Peter shouldn’t be too surprised that Johnny’s lips are very warm. His chest bursts out in a strong, overwhelming feeling he can’t place. His hands hang awkwardly next to his body, unsure of what he’s supposed to do with them.

Johnny keeps on kissing him. It’s not urging, not forcing him to comply. Peter’s all too aware that Johnny’s giving him the chance to pull away. But he doesn’t. Why, he doesn’t even know. His mind is one big mess, his eyes closing without his permission.

There are surprised gasps around them. Neither of them reacts to it. Peter barely even notices when his hands go up, resting on Johnny’s middle. He’s barely aware of himself leaning into the kiss, allowing Johnny in, both of them breathing heavily.

It takes a while before Peter remembers he shouldn’t be doing this. He pulls away so quickly that it startles Johnny, who looks confused all of a sudden. The two of them stare at each other for a few seconds. Peter shakes his head.

“What the fuck, dude?” Peter bites out before turning around. He leaves the party without saying anything to anybody, leaving Johnny behind.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess what: I'm sick AGAIN. I hate having colds... :'( Anyway, here's the next chapter
> 
> Anyway, chapter warnings:  
> \- Me trying to use smart words but not being all that good at it  
> \- Tony being reckless  
> \- Peter has trouble dealing with his problems  
> \- Peter finds out some stuff he doesn't know how to deal with

“Day twenty-five, test… 106. Nanites are working, but there’s a continuous connectivity issue which I think I’ve fixed.”

Tony rubs his eyes. The fifteen-thousandth sigh leaves his mouth as he squints his eyes once more to look down into the microscope. What he sees is the exact same thing as the past 105 times he’s tried this out.

With the headset in place, he focuses his mind, telling the nanites to move under the lens. Just like he’s imagined, it moves the way he wants it.

“Okay, that works,” Tony mutters. He’s no longer going in too much detail, having talked his ears off for the past two weeks he’s been working on this. He plays with it some more to make sure it’s not just a one-time deal.

Then he leans his head back, rubbing his eyes once more while yawning.

“Sir, I feel obliged to tell you that you’ve been awake for the past thirty-seven hours. I strongly advice to sleep-“

“I’ll sleep when this is finished,” Tony mutters. “Dum-E, another coffee, please!”

The bot whirs after getting an instruction. He rolls away towards the little kitchen-space to get to work. Tony doesn’t look at it. He passes his hands over his face, taking another deep breath. Has it really already been fifteen days since his fight with Peter?

“FRI, can you try and connect with the nanites?” Tony asks, only noticing then how scratchy his voice sounds.

“ _Of course, sir, attempting contact.”_

There’s silence while FRIDAY works. Tony leans forward on the desk, turning his head a bit to the side where he can see his phone lying there, untouched for at least three days already. Is there even still any battery left?

He reaches out for it, by now not even expecting a message from Steve or any of the other guys. Whatever this secret mission was, Tony’s extremely sure that, by now, the mission is already over. They’re probably just enjoying their time off, taking a holiday in New Asgard. Not bothering to even let him know anything.

“ _Attempt unsuccessful,”_ FRIDAY tells him. Tony groans, dropping his head on the table after he finds that, while his phone is still on with more than half battery, there aren’t any messages at all. Everything just sucks. “ _Do you wish for me to try again?”_

“Yeah, yeah, just try,” Tony mutters. “Anything from Steve or Peter?”

_“Negative. Do you wish for me to call them?”_

“Nah, no need. Though, maybe you should try and reach Romanoff?”

 _“Of course,”_ FRIDAY responds. Tony pushes himself back on his feet while he waits for the call to come through. It goes on and on, almost two minutes maybe. Tony doesn’t even expect for her to pick up anymore.

“ _Tony_?” she suddenly asks, having picked up anyway. Tony turns his head, seeing her face on the holo next to his desk. “ _Jeesh, you look awful.”_

“I look perfect and you know it,” Tony responds. “Where are you at? That doesn’t look like New Asgard behind you?” Tony nods towards the screen. Natasha turns her head to look at what’s behind her. When Sam Wilson suddenly walks by, she gives the guy a light smile.

“ _Yeah, we’re in the quinjet,”_ she says. _“The mission is over, so we’re on our way back_.” There’s a light, though sad, smile on her face. Tony’s heart suddenly skips a beat, suddenly afraid for what she’s clearly hesitating to say.

“Just say it, Romanoff,” Tony urges on. It’s better to just rip off the bandage. If Steve’s hurt, or if he’s not coming back, Tony needs to know.

“ _Steve’s not with us,”_ she says, just like that. Tony takes a deep breath, but presses his lips into a thin line. “ _He’s not staying there for ever, but just… a little bit longer. He needed the space, he said.”_

“Right,” Tony returns. He clears his throat, sniffing his nose. Why are his eyes stinging like this? Shit…

“ _Give him time, Tony,”_ she urges him on. Tony shakes his head.

“I haven’t spoken to Peter for the past two weeks,” he suddenly says. Natasha’s eyes open up wide in surprise at the sudden revelation.

“ _What? Why?”_

Tony shrugs. “We had a fight… I don’t know, it’s just… he was sneaking out at night, going on patrol. And when I asked him about it, he lied straight to my face about it.” He rubs his forehead. “I don’t know how to do this, Nat. I’ve no idea how to be a father, no matter how much I like to pretend I do.”

“ _Nonsense,”_ Natasha says in a calm, sweet voice. “ _You are an amazing father, Tony. Everybody has difficulties with it once or twice, but I know that Peter loves you. You should just call him?”_

“I’ve tried,” Tony says. “He doesn’t pick up. Whenever I came to the apartment, he wasn’t there. I’ve only heard through May that he’s doing fine right now since he at least still calls her every day.”

Natasha stays silent for a few seconds. Then she turns towards somebody behind her, saying something that sounds a lot like ‘go faster’. When she turns back to him, it’s with that sad smile he’s tired of getting.

“ _We’ll be there in a few hours. Just hang on for a bit, okay? The team’s got your back.”_

Tony nods. He holds up his thumb, and then waves her goodbye. He’s tired of speaking. A poke in the side indicates that Dum-E has finally finished the coffee. After Natasha ends the call, Tony takes it from him.

“My God, you’re getting slower by the days,” Tony mumbles towards the bot before patting it on the ‘head’. Dum-E looks up at him, poking him once more in the side.

“ _Sir, I’ve successfully made contact with the nanites,”_ FRIDAY suddenly says before Tony can respond to Dum-E’s pokes.

“What?” he speaks out, a bit surprised that she’s actually done it. “Show me!”

Tony puts the headset down on the table, no longer needing it. Then he puts his eyes behind the microscope, waiting for anything to happen. Much to his delight, the nanites start moving as FRIDAY probably instructs them to. He lets out a small laugh, unbelieving of the fact that, after everything, it finally worked!

“Holy shit it actually works,” he mutters out. He smiles, happy with the result. It’s been a while since this idea has been going through him. Mostly, it’s been Shuri who gave him the initial idea of the previous armor he had. The one that originated from the Arc Reactor attached to his jacket. But Tony wanted something that wasn’t dependent of the reactor. He needed something he could give Peter, so the kid could protect himself at any moment of the day.

He’s one step closer to it, now.

“Okay, give me the total piece and show me the suit.”

“ _Of course, sir,”_ FRIDAY tells him. Then, in just a matter of seconds, a whole Iron Man suit forms in front of him. He looks it over, checking out if everything is in working order. He looks over the thrusters, the flight stabilizers, the helmet. All in all, it looks pretty good.

“Now give me the other suit,” he says, not clarifying on it. FRIDAY knows what suit he means. And indeed, after he blinks the Iron Spider suddenly stands before him in all its red and blue glory. Tony lets out a huff, suddenly finding himself laughing. It actually worked… he can’t fucking believe it.

“ _Functions for both Model 37 as the Iron Spider are completely functional, though I would suggest multiple days of testing before actual injection of the-“_

“FRI, FRI, you know I don’t like it when you try to tell me that, right?” Tony tells her.

“ _I am aware, sir, but as the nanites are supposed to be injected into the bone structure of the body, I would find it prudent for further research to be done before-“_

“Dum-E, Butterfingers, bring me the medical kit. Try and keep everything sterile, okay? These are my bones you’re going to be working with.”

“ _Sir, I strongly advice-“_

“Not now, FRI. U and Id-Jit, you two get the camera ready and start up a new log. Day twenty-five, bleeding edge armor ready for injection, test one.”

“ _Sir-_ “

“Come to think of it, letting those two handle the needles and stuff probably isn’t that great of an idea. I should better do that myself.” Tony stands up, getting to the medical supplies he has in the workshop. He’s already stocked up on whatever materials he needs for this, but to be honest he wouldn’t have thought he’d be alone when it finally came to it.

But he has to do it with what he has. Sure, it’s going to be tricky to inject the nanites into multiple skeletal structures in his body, but he’s done some crazy shit before. Just to make sure, he also takes out some of the heavy pain-medication. Self-medicating is probably the worst idea ever, but he’s not really looking forward to feeling his bones being punctured every time again and again.

“FRI, give me some music, please?” he asks. By now, she’s probably given up on trying to get him to change his mind. Without any further objection, she starts up ‘I walk the line’ from Johnny Cash. It’s a strange choice, but it’s fine enough.

Preparation takes a while. The music shifts from one song to the other, apparently always playing something from Johnny Cash. By the time Tony’s just about collected everything he needs, he goes to sit down on the stool and pulls off his shirt. Looking down at his chest, he passes his hand over his scar. Not just the one from the arc reactor, but the T-shaped memory of his surgery last year. He takes a deep breath, for a moment missing Steve even more than before.

Tony hated his body after the surgery. He had so much trouble even looking at himself, disgusted by the scars he’d gotten only by his own doing. But while Tony hated it so much, Steve only loved him even more for it.  

What is Steve thinking right now? What is he even doing? It’s about six hours later all the way in New Asgard, so Steve’s probably… uh. Wait, what time is it even?

Tony quickly looks at the clock on the wall. Eleven in the morning? How did that happen? Crap, he needs to sleep after this shit.

Tony sighs. He should get this started. He claps his hands together, taking the compresses and soaking them with antiseptic. He reaches behind him, swabbing it over his back. He has the hope that that injection will be enough, but he figures that it might not, so it’s best to take the worst first.

He turns towards U and Id-Jit, holding his thumb up.

“You guys getting this?” he asks. The two bots make an affirmative movement. Tony bites his lip, feeling a bit nervous about it. “Alright, let’s get this thing started.”

Tony takes out the syringe, pulling the cap from the needle after making sure it’s purged.

“FRI, can you scan me up and show me where I need to inject?” Tony asks.

“ _Of course_ ,” FRIDAY responds, though sounding like she’s not really happy with it. Tony’s sure she’ll forgive him when it’s over. He lets her scans do their work before a red light shines up on a spot on his back. Where-ever he moves, the light follows him. Good, that way there’s less chance he’ll miss.

“Okay, pain-meds are taken, injection-place has been disinfected. Needle is free of air. Let’s get this show on the road.” Tony clears his throat, looking behind him into the mirror. “On one.”

Tony takes another deep breath. Placing the needle right above the injection-spot, he hesitates for only a little bit longer.

“Three, two, one.”

Then he slams down.

 

* * *

 

 

Peter’s still in his suit when he wakes up in his bed. He groans, already hating the headache before he even opens his eyes. There’s a nasty feeling in his stomach, the stench of alcohol strong on him.

What exactly happened yesterday? He feels like he remembers the party sucking in a way, but he can’t exactly say why. He turns onto his back, looking at the ceiling while he waits for any reason to get out of the bed to come up.

His phone goes off. It’s a text. He reaches for it, squints when the light of the phone nearly blinds him and reads whatever whoever sent him.

 _‘Jim is walking on his own again. He’s really happy. We’re staying two more days for further observation, and after that we’re heading back to New York. Love you, I’ll call you tonight!_ ’

Peter lets out a long breath from his nose. It’s good news, at least. He’s happy for Rhodey that Shuri’s treatment worked. He doesn’t answer to the text, though. He doesn’t really feel like it. Instead, he drops the phone again and bites his lower lip. His eyes go to the window, still without curtain since he broke it the last time. The light of day is shining brightly inside. There’s a sound in the apartment, Johnny’s probably awake.

Peter closes his eyes, suddenly remembering something.

Did Johnny actually kiss him? And did Peter seriously kiss him back? What the hell? Peter groans and rolls around until his head is hidden in his pillow. This exactly is something the two of them _didn’t_ need. Seriously, why did Johnny even do that? Wasn’t he like head over heels for Felicia?

Did the guy actually even specifically say that he had the hots for her?

Holy shit, what if Johnny has been with this inside him all the time and always kept it in? Were all those one-night-stands distractions? Ways to make Peter think that he’s not at all interested? Or was it just a way for Johnny to distract himself? Shit, shit, shit. Peter hates this.

Before his mind can bring him into even more of a panic attack, a call comes in. Peter turns to the side again, ignoring the pain in his ribs. Shit, has he seriously been patrolling drunk again? That never amounts to anything good.

Without looking at who’s calling him, Peter picks up the phone and presses it against his ear.

“Yeah?” he asks, rubbing his left hand against his eyes. Talking doesn’t help with the headache.

“ _Peter, it’s Steve,”_ Steve’s familiar voice says on the other side of the line.

“Oh, hey Steve,” Peter says, sitting up in his surprise. He hisses when his ribs protest against the movement. “How have you been?”

“ _As well as I could be_ ,” Steve answers, half jokingly. “ _How about you_?”

Peter snorts. “I’m not sure,” he mutters.

“ _What do you mean? What’s up?_ ”

“It’s nothing to worry about,” Peter assures him. “So the mission’s over?”

“ _Yeah, the guys are heading back to New York right now. They’ll explain it when they get back home, I’m sure.”_ Steve laughs a bit while he speaks. Peter frowns.

“What do you mean? You’re not with them?” Peter asks.

“ _No, I’m staying here for a little bit longer. That’s why I called, actually.”_

Peter shakes his head, huffing out a disbelieving sound. “What, so I wouldn’t be too surprised when the guys arrive in New York and you’re suddenly not standing there?” he asks, realizing he’s snapping a bit at the guy.

“ _Also to explain it a bit to you, Peter. I don’t want to keep you in the dark.”_

Peter can’t believe this. “So, what, you’re breaking up with Tony is that it?”

“ _It’s-“_

“Or is this about this shit you guys are refusing to tell me about? I mean, I would love to hear about it when you two decide to stop acting like children and treat me like an adult, you know.”

Steve stays quiet for a few more seconds. Peter’s not sure if he just pissed the guy off, but honestly, he couldn’t care any less.

“ _Listen, Peter. I can’t lie to you. But I’m not going to tell you what happened in the war without making sure that your father’s alright with it.”_

Peter rolls his eyes. “Sure, whatever,” Peter mutters out. “Listen, I’m already having a pretty shitty week, so unless you have some actual good news, I’d rather just head back to bed if that’s alright?”

He hears Steve sigh on the other side of the line. “ _What’s going on with you, Peter?”_ Steve suddenly asks.

“Nothing, I’m A-okay,” Peter deadpans. “Bye.”

Peter hangs up without waiting for an answer. To be really honest, he can’t really be bothered with his Dad’s problems. The guy needs to fix his own problems, much like Peter is taking care of his own.

Slowly, he gets out of bed. The first thing he does is shrug out of his clothes, dropping the black suit on the floor. Then, just in his underwear, he lies back down on the bed, a hand under his head and the other one on his belly.

Right, about his first problem. He looks at his door, hesitating on leaving his room and facing Johnny immediately.

Sure, he could do that had it just been Johnny kissing him shortly before Peter pulled back. The fact that Peter had unknowingly returned the kiss and was somehow kind of into it as well makes it even ten times worse.

How can it even be possible? Peter in no way has any sort of attraction towards Johnny. Even now, thinking about the kiss, he can’t even understand why he was so into it back then. Could it be the alcohol? Could it be because he was tired?

No, he’s not sure. The thing he felt yesterday – because now it’s suddenly all extremely clear – is seemingly completely gone right now. So how can he explain this to Johnny? Has the guy been feeling something for a while now? Has Peter given him some sort of hope? Is he now going to disappoint him, again?

Peter sighs before reaching for his phone again. He doesn’t care how late it is, he just searches for Harry’s number and presses down to call him. Right now, he needs somebody to talk to. And sure, he knows he has a lot of people that are currently located in America that he can reach, but right now the only person he needs is his old best friend.

“ _Hi, Peter! How are you?_ ” Harry asks, sounding happy the moment he picks up. Peter smiles lightly but it disappears again immediately. He clears his throat, suddenly feeling guilty that he’s not just calling to have a nice chat.

“Hi, Harry. I, uh… I need some advice,” Peter admits.

“ _Oh, is there something wrong?”_ Harry asks, sounding worried. Peter chuckles nervously, passing a hand through his hair.

“Possibly, yeah,” Peter says. After that, he starts explaining. Not just everything from yesterday, but everything else that has been bothering him. It helps a bit, to get everything out. It would have helped more if Harry would have actually been here. Peter feels a whole lot more relieved after he’s finished with the last word.

“ _Wow_ ,” Harry says then, “ _That’s a whole lot of shit you’ve been dealing with, bud.”_

Peter chuckles. “Yeah,” he says while shaking his head. “So, what do you think?”

“ _Okay, I’ll start with the most recent thing: don’t make it awkward,”_ Harry says. “ _The fact that Johnny even dared to do that is admirable.”_

“Yeah, sure but… I don’t know what to tell him now?” Peter mutters out.

“ _You don’t have to tell him anything, Petey,”_ Harry assures him. “ _Okay, I’m going to tell you something that you’re probably not going to want to hear, but I need it for an example.”_

Peter frowns, but then shrugs. “Sure, go ahead,” he says.

“ _When I returned to New York, after my Dad died… we got back in contact, remember?”_

Peter hums.

_“Well, we hung out for a bit, and then when you told me about Gwen I felt some sort of… jealousy. But I held it in, kept it for myself. I met Gwen one day at Oscorp, and I hated and loved her at the same time. She was sweet, kind, but she was also the one you wanted, and I didn’t like that.”_

“Harry, what are you telling me, here?” Peter asks, confused as to why Harry would suddenly say all this.

_“The Goblin knew about this. When he saw Gwen that day at that power plant… you know…”_

“Dude, are you telling me you had a crush on me?” Peter asks, shocked. “But then why did the Goblin want to kill _me_ all the time?”

This is way too much information at once. Peter seriously needs a time-out. He should go patrolling after this, maybe. He lets out another long breath, in all honesty just wanting another drink. How did it even come to the point where he needs to drink to relax a bit?

“ _The Goblin couldn’t have you. The only logical thing for him to do was to kill you, then. Don’t ask me how that’s logical, I don’t remember too much about what the Goblin did. It sucks enough to think back about it.”_

Peter nods in understanding, but to be honest he feels like he’s heard too much right now. His brain needs a break.

“Why didn’t you ever tell me about it?” Peter asks, then. It’s something really big to carry along all the time, so he’s a bit surprised that, of all people, Harry hasn’t come clean about this earlier. Harry’s never been shy about his feelings, after all.

“ _Dude, you were with Gwen, remember? And after that there wasn’t really much of me left to tell you about it. It was when I saw you again after they cured me that I realized I was finally over it.”_

Peter sighs again. “Why are you telling me now, then?” he wants to know.

“ _Because you need to stop being surprised that people_ like _you, Peter. If I’m completely honest, I suspected about Johnny a while back, but I just wasn’t sure… And knowing Johnny, I’m sure he’ll get over it eventually.”_

“But I’m living with the guy?” Peter brings up again.

“ _Yeah, so? If you don’t make it awkward, it doesn’t have to be. Johnny’s a big boy now, he’s not going to jump you in the hallway, you know.”_

Peter laughs for a bit, then. Really, he’s glad he has Harry back in his life. It would have been a lot better had Harry actually been here. He remembers the day the guy announced that he was going to travel. Peter had felt abandoned, then. First Ned, who was leaving for MIT, and then Harry? Holy crap, it was like everybody was just leaving at the same time!

“ _So, are you ready for any other bit of advice, or did you have enough?”_ Harry asks, jokingly. Peter laughs.

“Nah, I’m fine for now. This has been enough information for now, man.” He shakes his head, still unbelieving of the fact that Harry had a freaking _crush_ on him in the past. How’s that even possible. “Thank you, man… for being  honest.”

 _“Thank you for not being an ass about it,”_ Harry laughs in return. Peter smiles, sitting up again and looking up at the ceiling.

“I’m going on patrol for a bit. I need some distraction,” he says.

“ _Alright. But don’t hesitate to call, okay?”_

“Sure. Talk to you soon, buddy.”

“ _Bye!”_

They hang up after that. Peter drops the phone on the bed and sits up carefully to put on some clothes. After that, he decides to finally leave the room. Harry’s right; he shouldn’t make it awkward. Just pretend like it’s just a day like any other.

Peter gets to the living room, confused when he doesn’t see anybody there. The TV is turned off, the pillows of the couch untouched. Peter’s pretty sure he heard Johnny walk around earlier, didn’t he?

He goes to the kitchen, still finding nobody. Right, maybe Johnny’s in his room. He carefully goes to the door that leads to Johnny’s room. With just a second of hesitation, he knocks on the door and waits for an answer.

There’s nothing coming from the other side. Peter frowns, afraid that Johnny might actually be mad at him or something. He knocks again.

There’s still no answer. Carefully, Peter opens the door peeking inside the room in search for Johnny’s familiar figure. Much to his surprise and confusion, the guy isn’t inside.

“Huh, weird?” Peter mutters to his own. He walks inside the room, taking a quick look. It’s a lot cleaner than he remembers. The clothes that had been lying around are suddenly no longer on the floor. His desk, which had been covered with books and DVD’s is now almost empty. The laptop on it is also gone.

Peter decides not to stick around in the room too much. It’s not really polite of him, after all. He closes the door again behind him, figuring that Johnny might just have gone to school or something. Crap, Peter forgot he has classes as well.

It’s when he’s out of the room that he notices something hanging on the front door. It looks like a letter, maybe? Peter blinks once before walking up to it. Standing in front of it, Peter recognizes Johnny’s messy handwriting.

> _Yo Petey._
> 
> _I’m sorry for yesterday. I’m afraid I was a bit stoned and didn’t really have much control of my actions. It’s a lousy excuse, I know. The truth is, I don’t remember too much about it. I saw it from a picture somebody sent me this morning. That person also told me you weren’t too happy about it. How crappy am I that I don’t even remember this?_
> 
> _I’m not going to make this awkward. I know you aren’t, either. But I still have to face the fact that my feelings are still there. So, just for our friendship’s sake, I’m heading back to the Baxter building for a few days. Don’t worry, I’m not moving out. You’re just having a hard time already, and you don’t really need my crap on top of that._
> 
> _Don’t worry, you’re still my best pal. I never expected, nor wanted more from you._
> 
> _Talk to you soon, Pete._
> 
> _Johnny._

Wow, holy shit.

Peter’s not sure how to feel about this. Should he be angry that Johnny left without saying anything? Or should he be glad that Johnny respected the fact that Peter’s already having too much shit to deal with lately?

To be fair, it sucks a bit that he’s now completely alone. But… No, he can’t be mad at Johnny. Much like he should stop being mad at everybody else. Steve, the Avengers… his dad.

He needs to go on patrol to clear his head some more. And after that, he should try and catch up with his dad, maybe even apologize. No, surely apologize. Peter passes a hand through his messy hair before turning around.

Though… going on patrol with this strange pain in his side? He should have a quick check in the mirror. Peter hurries to the bathroom, lifting up his shirt and finding confirmation of his theory that he went patrolling drunk again last night. His whole torso is full of bruises.

He lets out an annoyed breath, a bit angry at himself that he keeps on doing this all the time.

Right… he’ll go on patrol later. First he needs to heal up a bit. So with a grunt he walks back to his room where he picks out his phone again. Then, searching for his previous calls, he selects Steve’s number again.

Steve picks up almost immediately.

“ _Peter, are you alright?”_ Steve asks, clearly worried. Peter swallows through a hard lump.

“Uh, yeah, uhm… sorry about earlier… I’m… really easily triggered lately. I shouldn’t have snapped at you.”

 _“I’m glad you called, Peter.”_ Peter smiles, feeling his eyes sting for a bit.

“So, uh… how have you been?”


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing has been getting a bit better again! Hurray! I missed last week's mid-week posting because I ran a chapter short, but this time I have a few more written down! So here you go, some more actual shit. I'm sorry. I'm still sick, my ears are constantly ringing and I've been listening to the Ring of Fire by Johnny Cash on repeat.   
> CHAPTER WARNINGS:  
> \- Venom makes Peter do things he can't really control  
> \- Kind of dub con? I'm not sure.  
> \- Infidelity. There's no way to get around that part.   
> \- The Avengers care about Tony

 Tony can’t remember how often he’s awakened in a room with a heart-monitor reading him. Waking up in medical causes for him to notice too much noise around him the moment he’s out of his sleep. For some reason, though, this time Tony seems to be extra aware of it.

_What the hell?_ He asks himself. He squeezes his eyes, confused when he feels something strange happening in his head. It’s like… there’s so much information in there. And a presence, like he’s not alone. Shit, did he drink again before he passed out? What even happened?

The heart monitor beeps, but Tony doesn’t need to follow that to know how fast his heart is beating. 86 beats per minute. His breathing is to 16 per minute. His oxygen saturation in his blood is to a hundred percent. Blood pressure is thirteen over eight.

Holy shit, how does he even know this?

“Anything new?” somebody asks. In front of Tony’s closed eyes, he sees a person in front of him. _Clinton Francis Barton, also known as Hawkeye. 47 years old, birthday January 7 th, 1971. Former agent of SHIELD, level 7 clearance and current member of the Avengers. Weapon of choice: Bow and Arrow. Current location: Stark Tower._

What the hell?

“Cho’s not sure. So far, he hasn’t woken op. The fact that we don’t know what he injected doesn’t help at all,” another person says. _Natalia Alianovna Romanova, also known as Black Widow. Currently 65 years old, born in Stalingrad November 22 nd, 1953\. Former member of the KGB, former member of SHIELD, level 7 clearance and current member of the Avengers. Weapon of choice: Widow’s Bites, batons, hand-to-hand combat. Current location: Stark Tower_.

Holy shit, that’s way too much information. As the thoughts go through his mind, all kinds of images of Natasha pass through his head, showing her from all the way back in 2010 to now. Jesus, has Natasha really changed that much?

“ _Sir?”_

Wait, that’s FRIDAY, isn’t it? Tony opens his eyes, suddenly sitting up in bed. He’s aware that he’s startling both Clint and Natasha who hadn’t even noticed he’s awake.

“FRI?” Tony asks.

“Tony! You’re awake?” Natasha asks, surprised. Meanwhile, Clint runs back into the hallway to search for a nurse.

“ _Sir, can you hear me?”_

“Of course I can hear you, FRI,” Tony returns. When he gets another confused look from Natasha, he frowns.

“Who are you talking to, Tony?” she asks.

“Uh, FRIDAY? She just asked me if I can hear her?” Tony returns. Natasha shakes her head, walking up to him and putting a hand on his forehead.

“Your temperature is normal, are you feeling alright?” she asks.

“ _Mrs. Romanoff does not hear me. I’m talking to you in your mind, sir,”_ FRIDAY reveals. “ _I have successfully made contact with the nanites, which allowed me to wake you up. You’ve been unconscious for a few hours before I succeeded.”_

“Holy shit, it actually worked!” Tony mutters out.

“What worked?” Clint asks as he walks back inside. “Hey asshole, that was really not a cool thing to do. What were you thinking?”

Tony looks up, blinking at Clint. All the personal information comes back up in his view, but now focusing on it, he manages to get it out of his sight.

“When did you guys arrive?” Tony asks. _The Avengers arrived at twelve fifty-seven a.m._

“Uh, around one,” Clint says. He looks down at his watch before remembering himself. “Wait, uh, rewind. How are you sitting up like that? When we found you, we couldn’t wake you up at all! We were afraid you’d offed yourself, you idiot!”

“Where are the others?” Tony asks, then. Suddenly, security feeds come up in his head. On the images, he can see Bruce sitting in the waiting room, accompanied by Sam, Vision and Bucky. _Mrs. Maximoff is currently on her floor._

“Bruce, Sam, Vision and James are in the waiting room,” Natasha confirms. “Wanda went back to her floor to wash up for a bit. She’ll be back in a while.”

Suddenly, another person comes walking inside. One look at her face, and Tony knows all he can about her. _Helen Cho, world-renowned geneticist. 33 years, born on January 25 th 1985 in South Korea. Current affiliations: U-Gin Genetics, Avengers. Current location: Stark Tower. _

“Mr. Stark, it’s good to see you awake again,” Dr. Cho says, though sounding anything but happy. She gives him a soft glare. “We weren’t too sure we were going to get you to wake up again.”

“I was only out for a few hours?” Tony counters.

“But you’ve also injected yourself with an unknown sustenance, straight into your spine, and put yourself into a coma. The only reason you are awake is because your AI spent the entire rest of the day working her metaphorical ass off to wake you up.”

“FRI, sweety, you’re so getting a raise,” Tony mutters.

“ _I have no need for money, sir,”_ FRIDAY returns, this time outside of his head.

“Yeah, well, all of that aside, let’s get to the actual business, shall we?” Cho asks. Tony leans back in the bed, looking at the Doc and giving her a nod. He can sit back and listen for a bit. “Your vitals are currently normal. The results of your blood-tests seem a bit deviant, but nothing indicates that you are in direct danger. Despite that, the injection you’ve performed on yourself could have been extremely life-threatening to a point of paralysis had you missed your target.”

Tony nods. “Yeah, but I didn’t miss, did I?” Tony returns. Natasha rolls her eyes. Clint snorts.

“That’s not the point,” Clint says. Tony feels a bit confused here, why does Clint care so much all of the sudden? He thought the guy could barely stand him! “The fact remains that you’ve injected yourself with something that might as well have been lethal to the human body. The fact that you’re still alive is actually a miracle.”

“The fact that _I_ made it is the reason why I’m still alive,” Tony throws back, unimpressed by Clint’s words.

“What is it even?” Natasha asks, though there’s still an obvious worry on her face.

“Let me show you,” Tony says. He closes his eyes for a bit, trying to focus on it. He hasn’t tried this before, but he remembers well enough from working with the headset what exactly he needs to do to call up the armor. So, in his mind, he tries to get the attention of the nanites, giving them his instructions. Inside his bones, he feels something tingling. It doesn’t hurt, not as much as the injection on itself had.

(Seriously, if the puncture of the spine wasn’t painful enough, the goddamn injection itself was enough to make him wish he was dead. He’s actually rather surprised that he survived that whole crap.)

When he opens his eyes, he’s faced with shocked expressions from Natasha, Clint and Cho, who have all three of them taken a step back. Looking down at his own body, Tony sees that, indeed, he’s covered by the armor. He throws his friends a wide grin, proud of his creation.

“Pretty handy, no?” he asks. “I’m also kind of connected to the entire internet and the tower’s mainframe. My head is now practically a computer.” Tony taps his head for a bit, giving the others a wide smirk.

“This is insane,” Clint mutters out.

“Dude, it’s me you’re talking about. Are you really that surprised?” Tony asks, playfully.

“Tony, can you stop joking about this? You could have died! Can you just imagine how Steve would have reacted?”

_Steven Grant Rogers, also known as Captain America. 99 years old, born on July 4 th, 1918 in Brooklyn, New York. Former soldier at the United States army, the SSR, Howling Commandos, former agent of SHIELD, level 8 clearance, current member of the Avengers. Weapon of choice: Vibranium shield, hand-to-hand combat. Current location: New Asgard, Norway. _

Steve isn’t here. Tony takes a shaky breath. “Did you call him?” he asks. Natasha gives him a strict look before shaking her head.

“No, we haven’t. Though we were going to if you hadn’t woken up an hour from now,” she says. When there’s a sudden knock on the door, everybody turns to look at it as it opens. There, Bruce’s face suddenly shows up. There’s obvious relief when he sees Tony awake, lying in bed.

“You’re back,” Bruce says, sounding grateful. Tony nods.

“Yeah, sorry for scaring you all,” he finally says. “I hadn’t slept for twenty-five hours-“

“ _Thirty-seven,”_ FRIDAY corrects him. Natasha slaps him on the arm after that.

“ _Anyway_ ,” Tony adds, his hands raised in the air in surrender. “As I was saying; I do crazy shit when I’m sleep deprived. I’m sorry.”

Everybody gives him a long look before they all one by one nod in understanding.

“Thank you, for apologizing,” Natasha says. “Now can you take off the suit so I can give you a proper hug?”

“A hug? You’re not a hugger?” Tony asks. Natasha shrugs.

“When your friend almost died for what feels like the hundredth time, one would feel compelled to hug said friend, no?” she says with a light smirk on her face. Tony blinks once before telling his body to pull back the suit. It doesn’t hurt as the nanites sink back into Tony’s bones. That’s a good thing; if it had hurt all the time the way it did when injecting it, Tony would surely have it all removed on the same fucking day.

Once the suit is gone from his body, Natasha’s arms are surrounding him in a strong embrace. Tony smiles. Having his friends around him again, he finally feels like he’s no longer alone. Especially when Bruce decides to join into the hug, quickly followed by Clint.

“You guys are saps,” Tony says, though feeling very grateful for it.

 

* * *

 

 

The call has lasted two hours before they finally say goodbye and hang up. Peter feels great, after that long conversation. It feels like he needed it, though he’s pretty sure he still had a whole lot more to tell the guy before he hung up the phone.

Much like the fact that he feels tired 24/7, or that he keeps on being spotted on patrol without remembering going. He doesn’t want to alarm Steve, so instead he told him about school, Aunt May, Shuri fixing Rhodey’s back.

The only part Peter hated about the call is the honesty Steve keeps at all times. So when Peter asked him if Steve was actually planning on breaking up with Tony, he didn’t like the answer.

“ _I’m not deciding anything right now, but it’s still a possibility,”_ Steve had said.

“But why?” Peter had asked, sad about it. “I thought you loved him?”

“ _Because I feel like I’m taking too much from him… There are so many things that he wants, needs, that I can’t give him.”_

Peter wasn’t sure how to answer that, so he didn’t. He kept his mouth shut about it and changed the subject.

Now, having hung up the phone after saying goodbye, Peter checks his movement. His ribs don’t hurt as much anymore, so he figures he’s about ready to head out at last. He walks up to his room, fishes the suit off the ground to put it back on and takes a deep breath.

There’s always this surge of power going through him when the suit is on completely. It’s like a thrill, a wave of strength that passes through him and gives him the biggest self-confidence he could have. Letting out a laughing huff, Peter balls his fists and shakes his shoulders loose.

Right, patrol. He could use the distraction. Peter opens up his window and jumps out of it. With a wide grin on his face, Peter shoots out a web, pulling himself through the streets. Underneath him, he can see people waving at him. He makes a peace-sign and moves along without stopping.

“Say, Karen, anything interesting for me?” Peter asks.

“ _There’s a fire in a thrift shop somewhere in Queens?”_ Karen suggests. Peter smirks and clasps his hands together.

“A fire? Haven’t done one of those in a while,” Peter says. “Show me the way, Kay!”

“ _Of course, sir,”_ Karen returns. Then, right in Peter’s sight, a path forms for Peter to follow. Oh, how he loves technology! Peter breathes out loudly before throwing himself over the edge off the roof of the building he was standing on. Only waiting until the very last moment, Peter finally shoots up his web and swings his way through the streets, following the path Karen procures for him.

It takes him a few minutes to reach it. The firemen are already on the scene, desperately trying to put down the flames. There’s a large crowd of people surrounded around the perimeter that had been build up. Police agents are trying to hold people back as they scream for their loved ones that are still stuck in the building.

“Spider-Man?!” one of the firefighters asks.

“What’s the situation?” Peter asks. Due to the mask, the fireman can’t see the assured expression Peter knows he’s expressing right now.

“Three people are still stuck in the building, but we can’t get to them without endangering our own men,” the man says.

“Alright, I’ll figure this out,” Peter returns. He jumps up into the building without waiting for another answer from the man. The moment he’s inside he can feel the warmth surrounding him immediately. He huffs out a heavy breath, trying to shake off the heaviness the heat brings along.

When there’s a sudden hand on his shoulder, Peter startles, swinging out his arm in an urge of self-defense he can’t explain. Turning around, he finds a familiar figure standing in front of him.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Peter asks the Cat, not exactly glad to see her standing there. Not that he doesn’t like her, of course… but, that’s just exactly the problem. Despite everything with MJ, he still seems to like the Cat a bit too much. He can't explain why, but his... body... always seems to react upon seeing her arrive! 

“Wow, nice to see you too,” Cat answers cockily, leaning forward to kiss Peter on the cheek. “I saw you swing this way and figured you could use a hand.”

Peter gives her green eyes a long look, taking in the by-now familiar face that comes with the Black Cat. Her dark mask is still in place, surprisingly sticking where Peter thought it would have fallen off easily.

“I didn’t know you were immune to fire?” is the only thing that comes up in his mind. The Cat rolls her eyes, pats his cheek and starts walking forward.

“C’mon, let’s find these people,” she says, suddenly getting into a run. Peter watches her go – his eyes lingering for a little bit – before he shakes his head and clears his throat.

“Right,” he tells himself, following after the Cat. There are no flames in this particular room, but when they get to a door, the Cat gives Peter a short look, awaiting his approval. Once Peter nods the two of them kick out their leg towards the door to smash it open. Immediately, hot flames fly into their faces, so the two of them jump back to avoid getting hit.

The Cat then takes something off her belt and throws it into the fire. Peter’s surprised when suddenly all the flames seem to be sucked into whatever device the girl has thrown in. There’s not even smoke, as it’s pulled along as well. Peter turns to look at the Cat, glad for just one short moment that she stole the Vulture’s stuff. It’s only for a few seconds, though, before he remembers that she shouldn’t have this stuff.

“Anybody in here?” Cat asks the moment the flames keeping their way blocked are gone. She walks inside, her hands next to her body and ready to start throwing some punches if necessary.

“Hello?!” somebody asks in between coughs. Peter jumps up, practically sprinting the way of the source of the noise. Much to his surprise, it looks like a young teenage girl. She looks scared, red in the face from the heat, with wet cheeks from tears.

“We’re here to get you out. Can you still walk?” Peter asks her, kneeling down in front of her to look her over. The girl just nods as Peter puts a hand on her shoulder. She doesn’t speak anymore, instead coughing the moment she opens her mouth.

“I’ll look for other people,” Cat says as Peter puts his hands under the girl’s shoulders and helps her up to her feet. Before Peter can tell her to wait, she’s already gone. Peter rolls his eyes, lifting the girl up easily and running back to the window he came in through.

Once he returns back inside, having dropped the girl with the paramedics, Peter looks around hastily, in search for the Cat somewhere around here. His ears try to catch anything, but the sound of fire snapping into wood is loud enough to full everything around him.

“CAT?!” Peter asks loudly, hoping for her to answer.

“I’m up here!” comes from somewhere. Peter looks up, finding a hole in the ceiling. There, indeed, he can see her suddenly walk up to him, kneeling down with her hands grabbing the edge of the floor. “Can I pass these two down to you? It’s too dangerous to jump from here.”

Peter nods, holding up his arms as suddenly two children are put into his arms. The kids really look alike, though there’s an obvious age difference between the two of them.

“Heya, kids, you two alright?” Peter asks. He doesn’t bother to wait until the Cat is back down as well. He starts running back to the window he came from, putting the kids down the moment he gets there.

They look scared, shy, but at least healthy as much as they can be while being stuck in a burning building. The younger boy starts rubbing his eyes, drying away a tear.

“Okay, so I’m going to lower you down through this window, alright?” Peter asks. The younger kid shakes his head and grabs for his arm, in search of reassurance. The older brother nods.

“Okay,” he says. Peter gives it a short thought before putting a hand on the younger boy’s shoulder.

“What’s your name, kid?” Peter asks.

“Andrew,” the little red-haired boy says, grey eyes giving him a sad look. Peter lets out a short breath before squeezing his shoulder shortly.

“Hey, Andrew. My name is Peter. But that’s our secret, alright?” Peter asks. The kid nods, still not looking exactly calmed down. “I’m going to lower your brother down with a super-strong web that can’t break, alright? What’s your brother’s name?”

"Toby,” the older kid says, proudly. Peter gives him a smile, only realizing after a few seconds Toby can’t see it.

“Nice to meet you, Toby and Andrew. How about we get you two out of here now, alright? Toby, I’ll lower you down. After you’re on the ground I’ll come down with your little brother. What do you say?”

The two kids nod, Andrew still with the top of his hand rubbing over his face. Peter passes a hand through his hair to comfort him a bit. After that, he gets to work. He guides Toby at the window, helps him over it. Then with the web stuck to the kid’s arms, Peter slowly but surely lowers him down until he’s on the ground. In the background, he can see a woman shout in relief. She, while carrying another baby in her arms, starts making her way to the boy.

“Alright, Andrew, let’s go?” Peter asks one more time. Andrew nods, holding out his hand for Peter to take. Peter doesn’t hesitate, pulling him closer until he finally picks him up. When he turns around to look behind him, he suddenly notices the Cat standing there.

Right, she’s here, too…

When she notices him staring at her, she raises an eyebrow and gives him a playful wink. Peter rolls his eyes, jumping out of the window without any warning and coming down on the ground without any bother. Just for the sake of Andrew in his arms he slowed down his landing by using his webs.

“Toby! Andy!” the woman Peter spotted before shouts. The two boys turn towards their mother and fly into her arms. Peter looks at her as she tries to balance into the hug while still holding on to a what seems like two-year-old kid on her hip.

“Mama, Spider-Man saved us!” Toby says proudly, pointing towards Peter. Andrew doesn’t move at all, still deep into his embrace with his mother. Peter can’t blame him, he’s extremely young and probably thought the entire time he was going to die.

The mother looks up at Peter, suddenly holding out a hand to him. When Peter takes it, she squeezes into his fingers.

“Bless you, Spider-Man,” she says. “Bless you.” She squeezes his fingers one more time before lowering her hands and throwing her arms once more around her kids. Toby suddenly pulls out of her hug and runs back towards Peter. Then, he suddenly points towards the toddler on the woman’s hip.

“That’s our little brother Tom,” Toby explains, pulling Peter along who follows without complaining. He looks at the little baby, always in awe of those small figures with way too big eyes looking back at him. The kid is sucking on his fingers, so Peter doesn’t get too close.

It takes a few minutes for him to separate from the family. With the kids in seventh heaven for finally meeting their hero, Peter lingers for a little bit more before he decides to head off. Just one turn in the opposite direction, and suddenly the Cat drops down in front of him. She gives him a wide smile, walks up to him and holds up her hands towards his face.

Without any warning, she slightly lifts up the mask, leans forward and kisses him straight on the mouth. Right here, where there are many cameras and witnesses nearby. He can hear the kids behind him making a disgusted sound at the sight of them. People are gasping in surprise, the sound of shutters surrounding them. Peter’s eyes are open wide for a few short second before he closes his eyes, lifting up his hand and putting it behind the Cat’s head. He leans into the kiss, deepening it until both of them pull away to get some breath.

“What was that for?” Peter asks in a huff. The Cat lowers his mask again, giving him a light smile.

“I just wanted to do that,” she says, poking her finger on his nose before turning around and running off in the opposite direction. When Peter looks back up, realizing that he’s surrounded by a whole crowd, he clears his throat, feeling himself sink into the ground.

“Crap,” he mutters. He looks up, shooting up two webs into the air, and pulling himself away from the people surrounding him. Countless thoughts are going into his head while he swings, but he can’t really seem to focus on one in particular.

“Hey hotshot, wait for me!” the Cat shouts after him. Peter jumps up against a building and waits for her to catch up to him. When she reaches him, she shoots up a zipline to pull herself onto the roof. Peter quickly follows her up. He’s not even up there for two seconds before his mouth is uncovered again and the Cat’s lips are once more pressed against his.

Peter makes another surprised sound, but it doesn’t even take him half as long as before to return the kiss with just as much enthusiasm.

“Shit, the way you were with those kids was just _sooo_ hot,” the Cat mutters against his mouth, grinning widely. Peter doesn’t respond, letting his hands rest on her back, sliding them lower and lower until they’re grabbing her ass instead. She pushes herself up against him, causing for Peter to groan.

The Cat laughs.

“Are you going to show me a good time?” she asks, grinning while pulling away a little bit. Peter feels like it’s a bad idea… Or, he’s not sure. Why would it be a bad idea? The Cat is hot, sooooo hot, and she’s here, willing just as much as Peter is.

So Peter does what he wouldn’t have expected to be doing. In a flash of something unexpected, he grabs her by the middle and throws himself over the roof. Swinging by two isn’t that hard, but it asks for a bit of adjustment. Peter doesn’t even recall the journey back to the apartment. Neither does he really remember what exactly happened afterwards.

At one point, when they arrived there, they started pulling at each other’s suits until they dropped on the ground. Keeping the lights off, Peter doesn’t mind too much when his mask gets pulled up at least a little bit too high. He pulls it off eventually when he understands she won’t be able to see him in the darkess.

They are standing in one moment, and the other he’s lying on his back, on his bed, with the Cat leaning over him, putting her hands in all the right places. Peter throws his head back, feeling her tongue against his neck. He can’t remember ever being so turned on like this before in his life. Holy shit, this girl’s a Goddess…

He startles when the lights turn on. With the Cat lying on top of him at the verge of pulling his underwear down, Peter realizes she’s not the one who freed them from the dark around them. Confused and a bit worried, Peter turns his head to the side to find who turned on the lights.

Only then does he remember why exactly it was a bad idea to be going along with the Cat in the first place.

As if she’d just burn him, Peter pushes the Cat off, causing for her to complain in return.

“MJ, I-“ Peter starts, but his words get stuck down his throat. How is he ever going to explain this? It’s not like he can use the Spider-Man-excuse since he’s completely out of his suit.

MJ just shakes her head, looking into his eyes and biting her lips together.

“I don’t know what I was expecting, but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised,” she says lowly. Then, giving the Cat a murdering look, she turns around, heading back into the hallway that leads to the living room. Peter jumps up on his feet, feeling the Cat’s hands grab his arm.

“Forget her, Peter,” the Cat says. Peter hesitates for a short second, but then he pulls himself free. As if he’s just going to forget about MJ. Again, that is. He doesn’t know what has been happening inside his head for the past few days. Has no idea why he feels like he’s been spending more time with the Cat than he can remember. He has no idea of many things, and he knows he’s going to need to talk about this with somebody after this all is over.

He’s just tired all of the sudden. Tired enough to not think about the fact that the Cat just called him 'Peter'. 

So Peter runs after MJ, still standing there in his underwear. When he reaches out for her, she suddenly turns back to him, holding up her finger in a warning.

“Don’t you touch me, Parker,” she hisses at him.

“But MJ, I-“ Peter returns. MJ shakes her head and takes another step back.

“Hell no! I should have known things were going bad since college. All those nightly-missions? The constant fights with your Dad? Ignoring me and all your friends? The drinking?!”

“How did you-?” Peter asks, confused by that first bit.

“Know you were Spider-Man? Seriously, Peter? You think I didn’t realize it all the way back in Washington?! You bailed on Liz on Homecoming and the very next day her Dad’s in prison? You disappear always whenever Spider-Man is near? I might not be as smart as you, but I’m not dumb.”

Peter’s speechless. Unable to come up with any good answer, he balls his hands into fists and looks down to his feet.

“I guess I can’t just go blame you… You have been acting really strange and I never really did anything to help you…” MJ shakes her head again before turning back towards the door slightly. “Bye, Peter.”

She starts moving again. Peter startles the moment she walks. He reaches out his arm again, grabbing for her hand. She pulls away the moment their skins touch.

“Seriously, Peter. Fuck off,” she hisses at him. “Just… get your head straight, stop pushing everybody away. Maybe after that, we’ll talk.”

“But MJ, I really can explain! Something’s been happening to me, and I hadn’t realized it before!” Peter holds up his hands in defeat, but also to beg her not to walk away. MJ rolls her eyes.

“Oh, that’s just convenient, isn’t it?” she mutters. “If you want to follow into your Dad’s footsteps of his early days, you should do whatever you want. I’m not going to be any part of it.”

After that, MJ starts walking towards the door, leaving the apartment. Peter passes a hand through his hair, vaguely aware of the shifting noise behind him. When suddenly a hand rests onto his shoulder, he jumps away, turning around towards the Cat with his hand held up as a stop-signal.

“Not now, Cat,” he warns her.

“Ah, come on! After all that fun we’ve had in the past few weeks?”

“FUN?!” Peter shouts all of the sudden. “When have we been hanging out where we actually had _fun_?! All you do is follow me, flirt with me and get too touchy!”

The Cat frowns, crossing her eyes. “Seriously? _I_ flirt? _I_ touch?! You didn’t seem to mind last time when you were sucking my face off two days ago, asshole,” she bites back. “Also, for the past few weeks all you’ve been telling me is how single you are. You can’t blame this shit on me.”

Peter looks at her, but suddenly feels unable to answer. Because he can’t remember ever really kissing her other than that first time right before he got together with MJ.

“We didn’t-“ Peter mutters, his head suddenly aching at the information she’s throwing his way.

“We met up every night! You can’t tell me that you can’t remember any of this!”

“I, uh… I don’t,” he mutters. He scratches his hair, noticing his phone ringing back in his room. That must be Aunt May. She did say she was going to call in the evening…

"Yeah, no, I’m not meddling with this,” she mutters back. With a headshake, she turns around and runs towards the window. Without saying another word, she jumps back into the open air, leaving Peter alone in the house. He, in turn, just starts walking towards his room to grab for his phone.

“Hey Aunt May,” he mutters when he picks up. “I screwed up, and I need your help…”


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a day early, I'm aware. I'm just on a roll with writing these chapters, and I might even be starting to hope to finish the story before Infinity War comes out, as I'm currently writing chapter 21 of 26. Yes, indeed I wrote 26, since I have once again added another chapter to the repertoire (one of my chapters got way too long, so I had to split it in two!)  
> I still feel like I'm forgetting a lot of things. If that's the case, don't be afraid to point them out so I can make sure to round everything up in the following few chapters.  
> I'm not perfect, neither is the story. I think I had too much planned for the few chapters I had intended for the story, I started off with 22 chapters and one epilogue... That didn't hold on for too long.  
> This story is definitely going to be the last in the verse. I'm not going to write a third part. It was surprisingly hard for me to write this one due to my internship and my constant dreading for Infinity War. But the story's never completely over. Unless I've decided otherwise, the timestamps will continue. I have more to tell about these characters, just not enough to make another whole story about it.  
> Anyway, enough of my complaining. Here are the CHAPTER WARNINGS:  
> \- Out of control Peter  
> \- Violence & mentions of blood  
> \- Tony and Peter have a talk
> 
> EDIT: After some long thinking, Caspinn and I have decided to change the story up a bit so it can be compliant with Infinity War. A couple of parts will be edited in this story, and the timestamp that has been posted on the matter will no longer be relevant. You can still read it in case you want some angst, but it will no longer be completely compliant to the story! (Not everything will be different, otherwise I would have to change this entire story as well. Just, a lot of things).

Trying to talk about his problems without telling Aunt May about being Spider-Man is pretty hard. He wishes he could have told her the entire story so that he could get _good_ advice from his Aunt, but right now he needs to do it with what he has.

 _Talk to MJ. Talk to Tony. Talk to Johnny_. That’s all he can do right now. He figures he should start with Tony. At least, to him, he can give the whole story. Then, after he can get everything straight, he can try and figure out this mess.

Peter sleeps horribly at night. In fact, he stays awake the entire time, his eyes fixed on the ceiling and this strong urge to head out and fight some crime. His head’s a mess, his heart aching in a way, but at the same time lacking the… feeling. He has no clue what’s happening.

Feeling a strong urge to smash his head against the wall, Peter turns around in the bed until his face is pressed into the pillow. He lets out a frustrated shout, hating the way his head is working in the past few days. Weeks. Months.

Nothing’s going the way it should. He has no idea when it started, but he figures it must be since the Infinity War. Though, what exactly happened there, he has no idea. The way he remembers it, it was like nobody was really meeting each other for the first time. Peter can’t remember ever coming across the Guardians of the Galaxy before, nor does he remember meeting Thor before then. Still, when they came down to Earth, they seemed to know exactly who he was.

Peter never really questioned the fact that their far-fetched plan seemed to work out too perfectly, knowing their luck. The one thing that worked against them was the fact that once they got the gauntlet from Thanos, they couldn’t get it to Steve soon enough so Tony had to use it instead.

Could that be why Tony’s been acting so weird since the war? It couldn’t be, right? Tony couldn’t have used it for more than three minutes maybe, using Thanos’ own weapon against him.

Things have been weird since then. And at first Peter was too glad for surviving that he never thought to question it. After that, there was graduation, moving out, the Compound being struck by a meteor, college… No, he never really took the time to get everything straight. He can barely even remember what’s been happening in the past few weeks since college started. It’s all… vague.

Why was he fighting with Tony again? Because he was caught sneaking out at night and supposedly lying about it? Maybe he should just have talked to Tony instead of shouting at him immediately.

Shit… His temper has been seriously out of control. But… when did _that_ start?

Peter looks to his side, seeing the black suit lying on the ground. He frowns, moving to the side of the bed and reaching out for it. Once his fingers grab a hold of it, he blinks a few times in confusion. Could it have anything to do with this? Is it possible?

His phone goes off. Peter frowns, dropping the suit as he grabs for the device lying next to his pillow. For a short second, he hopes that it’s MJ. For another short second afterwards, he hopes it’s everybody but her.

As it turns out, he’s not sure if luck’s by his side or not. Seeing Wanda’s name on the screen, he doesn’t hesitate on picking up the phone, pressing it against his ear and rubbing his eyes with his left hand.

“Wanda, hey,” Peter greets her, realizing he hadn’t sent her anything for her return.

“ _Hello, Peter. Viz and I have returned and we were wondering if you wanted to come on patrol with us for a bit?”_ she asks kindly. Peter lets out a long breath, in one part not really thinking it’s a good idea to go patrolling again. On the other hand, though, having two other people tagging along with him – two people with unmeasurable powers, too – could literally stop him from doing anything stupid.

“Since when do you guys go on patrol?” Peter asks curiously, sitting up in the bed and using his feet to pick the suit up from the ground. Once it’s in his hand, he puts the phone between his ear and shoulder and starts putting it on.

“ _After a whole time in Asgard, we could both use some ‘normal’ crimes to get ourselves back into reality,”_ Wanda jokes.

“I don’t really think ‘normal’ is possible with the two of you,” Peter adds. He grabs for his mask before getting on his feet. Taking the phone back in his hand, Peter stretches his neck and takes a swing of his glass of water. It tastes horrible, having stayed there the entire night, but at the same time it feels good to have something cool pass through his throat.

“ _So are you coming?”_ she asks with a slight playful tone in her voice.

“Sure, I could use some time with friends,” he returns.

“ _Why, did something happen?”_

“I’ll explain it when I see you,” he says. “See you at the park?” She knows where.

“ _Of course, ‘til then.”_ She hangs up the phone, and Peter drops it on his bed. As long as he’s wearing the mask with Karen inside, he has no need of carrying it along.

“Hey Karen,” Peter greets the AI the moment the mask is covering his face.

“ _Hello, Peter,”_ Karen returns. “ _Another patrol, then?”_

“You betcha,” Peter jokes, walking towards the window and opening it up. With a short sting in his chest, he remembers how he entered his room through here with the Cat right behind him. “Say, uh, Karen… you still record everything?”

“ _You know I do,”_ she says, making Peter roll his eyes. “ _Is there something specific you need?”_

“Well, uh,” Peter mutters, a bit breathless while he swings around. “Have I been going on patrol during the nights often lately?”

“ _As a matter of fact you have,”_ she admits. “ _Do you not remember this?”_

“Not really.” Peter sighs, coming to a stop against a building. “Do you mind passing along all the video-feeds of those patrols to my computer? So I could have a look at it?”

_“I’ve sent all the feeds to your device. Do you wish for me to pass along your concerns to your father as well?”_

Peter’s first instinct is to say ‘no’. It’s probably not a good idea for Tony to know about this, since he’ll just get worried even more than before. But… Peter also realizes all his problems have started because he never really tells anybody anything.

“Sure, tell him,” Peter says. “Also, can you tell him I’ll go and see him tonight? And that I’m on patrol with Wanda and Vision?”

“ _Of course, I’m sure he’ll be glad to hear from you again.”_

“Yeah, probably,” Peter mutters, feeling a strong wave of shame pass over him. He looks down at his hands, seeing his black suit surrounding him. Once again, the thought passes through him that this suit might be playing a big part in all of this. “Can you also ask him if he could look something over for me? And maybe Bruce as well?”

“ _I will.”_

“Right,” Peter get out, deciding to just continue his journey. He throws himself off the building, hurrying towards the park.

He’s stopped in the middle of his travel when he sees a bunch of police-cars surrounding a bank. Huh, is there another robbery? That’s perfect timing, he tells himself. Just when he’s at the verge of calling Wanda back up, he finds them already on the spot. Peter drops down next to them to ask for a status update.

“It’s alright, they’re already coming out,” Wanda says happily. Vision, on the other hand, seems less relaxed about it. For a moment, Peter wonders if he knows something they don’t. He watches as the police keeps their guns raised up, waiting for the robbers to get out of the bank. He wonders if Wanda’s been using her telepathy to coax them out. Probably it’s something like that.

The first person comes out with his hands in the air, quickly followed by two others. The three of them allow themselves to be taken into custody with no fight or struggle. If only everything would go so easily, Peter wonders to himself.

The fourth criminal comes out with a bit of a delay, eventually followed by a fifth. Though the last one doesn’t seem to have his hands raised. Peter frowns, looking at the scene in close attention. A cold chill passes through him, and Wanda must have sensed it off him since she, too, gasps in surprise.

“They weren’t with five,” she whispers out with fear in her eyes.

When the fifth robber pulls out a device that brings over a massive shock wave over them, everything seems to break around them. Glass shatters, cars fly off the ground and actually crush a couple of agents to death. Peter is thrown back against a wall, quickly followed by Wanda. By the surprise, Vision, too, is blown away before he can protect Wanda.

“What the-“ Peter grits out, slightly lifting up his mask and spitting out some blood that must have come when he bit his tongue during the blast. His head feels like it’s going to explode. There’s dust and smoke everywhere, alarms from all the police cars all around him.

He jumps back on his feet, ignoring the stinging in his head. He needs to get to the guy before he can run off. With a strength in him that he’s not really used to, yet, he jumps up into the sky and lands right where the blast originated. The guy’s nowhere near here, but his eyes catches the footprints in the dust on the ground. Somebody ran off before anybody saw it.

“Spidey!” Wanda shouts in search for him. When Peter turns his head, he catches a glimpse of the guy.

“I’m in pursuit,” he snaps, throwing himself back in the air and racing towards the guy. In only a few seconds does he land right in front of him. The man jumps back in surprise, his dark, messy blonde hair swinging in front of his face for a moment. He’s unshaven, looking vaguely familiar in Peter’s eyes.

“You can’t stop me,” the guy says, pulling up his left fist to punch him in the face. Peter stops it easily, turning the hand around painfully until the man lets out a painful shout. Looking down at the man’s hand, he sees it.

After all these years.

A star-shaped tattoo, on his left wrist.

“No way,” he mutters, too shocked by the revelation. He doesn’t let go of his painful grip, instead staring unbelievingly at the man in front of him. Seeing the guy’s eyes, he remembers the guy had been wearing sunglasses that evening. Peter never got to see the green color in them.

Peter isn’t paying attention anymore, so he shouldn’t be too surprised when the guy uses his mystery-device again and blows him away once more. This time, Peter is a bit more prepared. While he flies back, he quickly shoots out a web towards the bastard and pulls him along, making him crash against the wall behind him just as hard. It doesn’t do much towards Peter, but the guy will surely feel it.

And much like he’d expect it, the guy lets out a painful grunt, probably having broken at least a few bones. But Peter’s not done with him. When he pulls out a gun and points it towards him, Peter just snatches it out of his hands, barely missing the shot. Then he throws in a punch. And another one. He goes on and on, leaving the guy’s face bloody and bruised, probably having lost a few teeth. The guy doesn’t fight him again.

“This is for killing my uncle,” Peter hisses towards him, ready to throw the final blow. That’s when he realizes he’s been hearing voices all around him.

There’s Karen in his ears, begging him to stop, not to do it. Wanda’s behind him, warning him that she’ll stop him is she has to. Vision is quiet, seemingly shocked about what is happening there.

But to make it worse, other members of the Avengers have joined. Not all of them, but he can still see Sam and Clint, with Scott next to them. Natasha’s there, too, though without Bucky. To make it worse, there’s a whole crowd of people standing there as well.

Everybody looks shocked.

“ _Peter, stop this_ ,” a familiar voice says above him. Peter looks up, right in time to see Iron Man arrive. Peter is breathing heavily, not realizing that he’s been sobbing along with it. Seeing his father come down, hidden underneath that stoic mask, makes him want to cry on the spot.

“I- I,” he starts, but he can’t continue. What was he doing? Was he really about to kill this guy? A mere human who has no possible way to defend himself? Disgusted with his own, Peter lets go of him, taking a few steps back and trying to place that weird stinging in his chest. His heart is beating like crazy.

“ _Just calm down, honey,”_ Tony says quietly, low enough that the people around them can’t hear it. Slowly, he’s nearing his son in the middle of the circle. The guy on the ground makes a painful sound, spitting out some blood.

“Dad-“ Peter huffs out, realizing he’s shaking.

“ _I’m going to take you home, alright?”_ Tony offers. “ _We’ll go home, and the others will take care of this. Is that okay?”_

Peter nods, realizing that he can’t speak anymore. When Tony’s close enough, he throws himself into his arms, letting out loud sobs and unable to stop shaking. Crying underneath the mask is never a good idea, but it’s not like he can just pull it off like that.

He doesn’t even realize he’s flying. One moment they’re still at the bank, and the other he’s back in the tower, the mask of the suit pulled away from him. Tony doesn’t even look at the black suit, instead guiding his boy back inside.

 

* * *

 

 

There’s a meeting. Tony would have thought that, by now, they would have gotten to the part where this wouldn’t be necessary, but yet here they are.

It’s like a lot of things have happened today. His first worry – though also feeling of relief – came when Peter reached out for him with the message that he needed Tony to look something over. After more than two weeks of silence, it came to a large surprise for him that Peter would just… ask for his help.

Tony wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth, of course. If Peter’s reaching out for him, he’s not going to complain.

But with Peter lashing out against that robber, the way he acted out of control in his rage… Seeing him like that scared Tony in every possible way. Especially when he looked down at his son, and the first thing he could see was his elevated heartrate inside his head.

 _There is something wrong with the suit_ , Tony’s head told himself when he unknowingly scanned everything happening around him. The suit had no tracker, that much he knew, but looking at Peter standing there he realized that what he was wearing was not what Tony made.

Tony thought he would have been light on his feet so soon after the injection of the Bleeding Edge. As a matter of fact, he’s never felt better, stronger. It’s something he wouldn’t have thought possible, due to the small amount of Super Soldier Serum inside of him, but here we are. He noticed it when he accidentally broke the sink that morning. Again. Besides, his head is in constant over-drive, but unlike with the Serum, this time it’s something he can work a lot better with. It’s not his senses that are amplified, nor his reflexes. It’s his head literally being connected with his systems at all times. Just a step further from the Iron Man HUD or the headset he used to contact the suit.

Peter’s in the bathroom, taking a bath to calm himself down. Tony told him to take his time, and he doesn’t think Peter’s gonna get out so quickly after what just happened. It gives them plenty of time to talk about things.

“So, can anybody recapitulate for the people who weren’t there?” Bruce asks, holding a hand up the moment he enters the room. He’s only been told the footnotes of everything, much like Bucky and Hope have been.

“Peter flipped out and almost beat a guy to death,” Clint says shortly. Everybody glares at him for his crude way of describing it. “What, that’s what happened, isn’t it?”

“What really happened is that Peter found his uncle’s killer again and lost it for a moment,” Tony says, having only gotten the footnotes from Peter’s stuttered words. Then he takes out the empty bottle of pills he found in Peter’s pants in his room earlier and puts it down on the table. “And I think this is the reason.”

Everybody stares at the bottle in confusion, clearly wondering what that has to do with it. For a moment, Tony wonders how much they know about Peter’s situation. They probably know he takes things for the depression, but they’ve never really discussed the other parts, haven’t they?

“So, what, Peter runs out of drugs and turns all Kill Bill on people?” Sam asks. Natasha leans forward to take the bottle and read the name on it.

“This is for PTSD,” she states the moment she sees it. When she says it, everybody looks up at Tony to search for confirmation. He can only nod sadly.

“Peter was there when the Green Goblin killed his girlfriend, Gwen,” Tony starts. “He tried to keep his distance from her because he knew she would follow him everywhere otherwise. And in the end she did. He kept on blaming himself for it. He had nightmares about the whole thing for months. Once he almost broke another intern’s arm back at the tower because he had a panic attack.”

“This was no panic attack, Tony,” Bruce says, pointing towards the news report that is currently playing. “This was rage, and nothing more than that. For that moment, all Peter wanted was for this guy to be dead.”

“You don’t know that,” Vision counters, strangely defensively. “Peter’s not like that, he wouldn’t want any harm done to anybody.”

“Yet this guy is now in the hospital with a broken face,” Clint adds in.

“It’s not his fault!” Tony finds himself almost shouting. Realizing that he’s shot up again, he slowly sits back down. Shit, Steve is really missing in this situation…  

“Tony, I know you love the kid. He’s your son, for crying out loud,” Rhodey starts. “But I think that, right now, he’s only putting himself in danger.”

Tony looks up, seeing everybody looking at him with a sad expression. Except for Wanda, who isn’t looking at him at all.

“You want me to take away the suit, don’t you?” Tony asks, sadly. All the eyes on him lower again, nobody wanting to face him when he hits the mark.

“I think that might be for the best, for now,” Natasha assures him. She leans forward to squeeze into his hand. He doesn’t react to it.

“He could focus on college, hang out with his friends… be _normal_ , you know?”

Tony doesn’t know who says it. He just closes his eyes and gets it all through his head. For all this time he’s been constantly so worried about his son ending up killed that he never thought about his boy potentially killing _somebody else_. Why didn’t Peter say that he was out of meds? How long has he gone without them, even? Have things like this happened before in the past few weeks without Tony knowing about it?

It scares him, but more than that it breaks his heart; knowing that his son has so much going on inside of him and that Tony can’t help him even though he wants to so much.

“I can take the suit,” Tony starts, voice cracking. Natasha squeezes his shoulder in reassurance. Tony sniffs, drying his eyes before continuing. “But you know that won’t stop him. He’ll always find a way to be Spider-Man.”

Wanda finally looks up, eyes wet and clearly shaken by what happened.

“All that anger I saw inside of him,” she starts lowly, “all that hatred for this one single person that has ruined his life. It was horrible to feel it. The idea that Peter walks around feeling like this most of the time, it must be wrecking for him.”

Tony points towards the bottle of pills with a raised eyebrow.

“You don’t get it, Tony,” Wanda then says. “He was like a cat, and that man was the mouse. He wasn’t just going to kill him. He wanted to make him suffer some more before doing it. Make him pay for all the agony he’s brought to him and his Aunt.”

Tony clears his throat before standing up. He rubs his eyes, turning his back on all of them while limping to the window. Natasha follows him, coming to stand behind him to put a hand on his shoulder. Tony leans back against the wall, once again wishing that Steve were here.

“Do you want me to come along?” Natasha suggests. Tony sighs but nods, though not moving at all.  He hates this day already, and it’s not even past noon, yet. With dread all over his body, Tony leaves every one of them behind, slowly making his way towards the hallway where he hopes Peter is ready with his bath. Then he shortly turns to Natasha.

“I’ll take care of it,” Tony assures her. Natasha gives him a worried look, but she nods to agree. Then she returns to the others, probably to tell them to get back to their respective floors. Tony isn’t staying long enough to listen to it. He gets to the door of Peter’s bedroom, remembering enough how he walked inside this room almost every day in the past two weeks, missing his boy’s presence.

Tony looks up at the ceiling.

“FRI, can you call May Parker for me?” Tony asks. “Can you tell her that Peter’s in a tough spot, and that he needs her right now?”

“ _Of course, sir,”_ she responds. Tony closes his eyes, counts to three inside his head, and then knocks on the door.

“Peter, can I come in?” Tony asks. There’s no answer, causing for him to hesitate for a little bit longer. He searches inside his head, looking for assurance that Peter’s actually in the room. When he finds confirmation for it, he reaches for the doorknob to get himself in.

Slowly, he opens it up, blinking when he gets inside the dark room. He notices Peter lying on his bed, his hands on his belly while he looks up at the ceiling. He doesn’t look up when Tony walks inside, doesn’t give any affirmation that he noticed him entering the room.

“Peter?” Tony asks, still unable to believe that it’s been almost two weeks since he last really talked to his boy. “How are you feeling, boy?”

Peter huffs out bitterly. “My girlfriend broke up with me, I’m having blackouts, my best friend’s in love with me and I almost beat a guy to death. How do you think I’m feeling?” he mutters out. Tony closes the door behind him, leaning against it while he tries to find out what he’s supposed to say.

“MJ broke up? What happened?” Tony asks, worried.

“She caught me making out with the Black Cat, so it’s not like I blame her.”

This hurts Tony for some reason. The idea that Peter’s going through so many things that he would actually cheat on his girlfriend. It doesn’t sound like him at all, and Tony aches inside for knowing how much is bothering him.

“Peter…” Tony starts, but he doesn’t know how to finish it.

“Something’s going on with me, Dad. And I don’t know what.” Peter’s voice sounds so broken, so vulnerable. Tony can’t help but walk up towards him, sit down on the bed and take Peter’s hand into his own.

“You told Karen something about not remembering your patrols? Is that what happened two weeks ago?”

Peter nods, though not looking at Tony at all.

“I just don’t know what are my own thoughts anymore…” Peter says. “It’s like there’s two opposite sides inside my head; the one telling me I love MJ, and the other one telling me I desire the Cat. It’s driving me crazy.”

Tony lowers his head, looking at his son’s unmoving hands. “Does the fact that you stopped taking your pills have anything to do with it?” Tony tries. Peter then finally looks up, eyes scared and red from crying.

“How did you-?” Peter starts, but he doesn’t finish his sentence.

“You left your empty bottle in your pants. Peter, something happened to me and now I kind of know everything. I don’t have too much control over it yet so I accidentally found out you stopped going to your psychiatrist ever since you got to college.”

Peter grumbles to himself, but then he shakes his head. “I’m not even mad at you. But wait, what did you do?”

Tony shrugs. “That’s a story for another time,” he says, clearing his throat. “Listen, Peter. I think there’s something I need you to know.”

Peter’s eyes meet his, his expression curious.

“Back in May, you remember when Earth got invaded again, right?” he asks. Peter nods, sitting up a bit in bed to look at his father a little better. “Shit, I wanted Steve to be here for this but… this shouldn’t wait any longer.”

“What is it, dad?”

“Peter… You told me a few times that you thought it was strange how the Infinity War passed, didn’t you?” Peter nods, his eyes wide at the realization that Tony’s finally going to tell him. “Well, you were right. A few of us actually lived through the war once before. It lasted for… what, maybe three days? We were just about defeated.”

“What are you talking about?” Peter wonders.

And so, Tony starts explaining. He talks and talks, taking a couple of seconds once in a while to find his words. He notices Peter looking at him with hard, wet eyes, mouth stuck in that grim stance. And once he explains about everybody's deaths, Peter's death, Tony hears Peter gasp for air next to him, seeing him sitting there with tears in his eyes. It’s only then that Tony realizes he’s been crying as well.

“We couldn't do anything, it just happened all around us. And I could only hold you in my arms, you were so scared. Something snapped inside of me, Peter. Something snapped inside Steve, too. We were trying to hold on to you, but we just couldn't. When all else seemed lost, we had to take some serious risks to get us back to where you were still alive.”

“How did you do that?” Peter then asks. Tony shakes his head, scraping his throat and attempting to hold back a sob.

“That doesn't really matter anymore. Only a few of us remember. It’s safe to say that, after that, nobody really wanted you to risk your life again. That’s why we agreed not to make you an Avenger after all.”

Peter shakes his head, his arms crossed over his legs while he stares ahead of himself. His expression is unbelieving, surely he’s thinking Tony’s just messing with him. Tony just wishes that’s true, but he figures he should have just told him much earlier.

“So that’s why Thor and the Guardians already knew me, isn’t it?” Peter then asks. “They had all met me before during that fight?”

Tony nods. Peter lets out another long breath before closing his eyes.

“Can you just… give me a moment to process this? Please?” Peter suddenly begs of him. Tony feels sadness coming all over him. He just wishes he wouldn’t have had to tell Peter all this. But, he deserves to know.

“Sure, I’ll leave you alone,” Tony mutters. He leans forward to kiss Peter on the forehead. They still have many things to talk about, but the truth is: now they at least have the time for it.

So Tony leaves the room. In his mind, he calls Steve up again, not expecting an answer at all. When he gets to voicemail, Tony takes another deep breath and brings him up to date about everything that just happened today.

Whether or not Steve wants to come back home after that, that’s up to him.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is going to be completely posted before Infinity War, damn it! Or I'll try, at least :') Chapter 21 is almost finished!   
> Also, yeah, I glossed over Peter reacting to the Infinity War-stuff, but that's mostly because he hasn't processed it yet. The actual realization for it will come in an upcoming chapter. 
> 
> Anyway, chapter warnings:  
> \- Dark Peter  
> \- badly written sex scenes  
> \- cheating

_Peter has a long look around the room. It’s a mess but it’s obvious that Peter has no near plans of cleaning it up. He moves his neck a bit, stretching it and waiting for it to pop. After that, his hands go to the window, opening it up and jumping out of it. They’re high enough, nobody’ll try and enter through there._

_Peter swings around New York. He feels stronger, faster. He doesn’t speak, even though Karen is asking him questions on where he’s planning to go. Peter keeps his lips tightly sealed, eyeing the streets in search for any trouble to come his way._

_There he sees it; a group of men, following a girl who is innocently making her way through the streets. Her eyes are stuck to the ground as she looks at her steps. The men are making every turn she makes, whispering to each other and suddenly breaking up. One guy goes into an alley to their left. The other one crosses the empty street._

_Peter follows the one in the alleyway. Without warning him, he shoots his web at the guy’s feet. In his surprise, he falls down on the ground, smacking his face against the stone underneath him. The guy gasps in surprise, blood running through his nose. Peter drops down next to him, grabbing him by the hair and giving his face a long look._

_“People like you and your friends are what gives us other men a bad name,” he hisses at him before punching him straight in the face. After that, he gets on his feet and jumps back to the other men. There are two still walking behind the girl, who seems to have realized she’s being followed. The guy who crossed the street fastens his pace. Peter shakes his head._

_Even from afar, Peter has no trouble shooting his webs. He gets out a few of them, at first to the guy’s mouth to prevent him from shouting. Then he goes for the guy’s arms, getting them stuck to the building next to him. He finishes with his feet, making sure the idiot’s not going anywhere._

_“Hmmm, Spider-Man fighting for Social Justice?” somebody suddenly asks next to him. Peter turns around, finding Black Cat walking up to him. He bites his lips when he sees her slim form, surrounded by the tight, leather black suit that accentuates all her curves. Damn, she’s hot, and she probably knows it._

_Peter doesn’t answer. Instead he turns back to the two men, seeing that they’ve almost caught up to the girl. He jumps off the roof, landing right in front of them. When he hears a second landing, he figures the Black Cat has followed him down._

_“My, my, gentlemen. Going after innocent girls is not really nice, you know?” the Cat says in that suave voice of her. Peter feels himself shiver upon hearing it._

_“Shit,” one of the men says. Meanwhile, the girl turns around to look what is happening behind her. The moment she sees who it is, she hesitates for three short seconds before she starts to run back home at last. Peter makes sure she’s passes around the corner before he turns back to the two men in front of him._

_Right in that instant the man in front of him balls up his fist and directs it right towards Peter’s face. He stops it, easily, grabbing the guy’s fist in his own hand and twisting it around painfully. The guy shouts in pain, causing for Peter to grin._

_“That’s unpleasant, isn’t it?” Peter asks the guy, who whimpers in agreement. “Honestly, that’s nothing compared to what you were planning with that girl.”_

_The guy shivers. In the corner of Peter’s eyes, he can see the Cat doing something similar to the second guy. Good, they get this shit finished quicker that way._

_“How about you get a taste of your own medicine, huh? What if somebody would do to you what you were planning on doing to that girl? You wouldn’t chase after her after that, would you?”_

_Peter should be surprised at how menacing his own voice sounds, but all he feels is anger, a red flash in his eyes. He tightens his grip on the man’s broken wrist before grabbing his shoulder and squeezing it painfully as well. He’s not sure if he’s imagining something cracking underneath his hand._

_“That’s pretty dark, sweety,” the Cat suddenly says. That’s when Peter realizes her green eyes are looking at him intensively. Peter blinks twice before loosening his grip on the man. Instead, he pushes him against the wall and webs him up to prevent him from running away. Then, without hesitation, he punches him right in the face, causing for his nose to bleed as well._

_After making sure that all four men are to be found by the cops, Peter grabs the Cat and swings himself back up in the buildings. The girl doesn’t say anything, but with her hands it’s obvious she’s trying to grab a feel at his muscles. Peter lets her, not seeing any reason as to why she couldn’t. After all, he would be stupid to push her away, right?_

_“That was kinda hot, you know? You going all Batman on those people,” the Cat mutters against him, her lips close to his ears. Peter doesn’t respond to it, instead dropping her the moment he gets to the roof of another building._

_“I had it under control,” Peter then says, running towards the edge of the roof and kneeling down as he observes the streets underneath him. He’s aware of Karen telling him things in his ears, but he puts her on mute. He doesn’t care about her warnings._

_“Uh, how about ‘Thank you, Cat, we make a great team’?” the girl responds, putting her hands on her hips. The wind blows into her nearly-white hair, making the white fur on her suit shift as well._

_“I work alone,” Peter returns dryly. The Cat rolls her eyes._

_“Sure you do, Mr. Incredible,” she returns. When she’s reached Peter, she puts her hands on his shoulders, leaning forward until her lips are on the back of his neck. Peter shivers for a short moment at the contact, but then he turns his head around._

_“What do you want?” he asks._

_“You know what I want,” she returns. Peter looks at her face. In a way, she looks familiar. The mask is a cheap way to hide away her true identity, but even still Peter has a hard time figuring out where-else he should know her from. He leans forward for a little bit, putting a hand on her cheek._

_Right when the Cat closes her eyes and leans in for a kiss, Peter pats her cheek twice before jumping back on his feet._

_“I’m not interested,” he lies. He lies so hard, because his entire body knows he_ is _interested. He feels it all the way down, feels something he hasn’t felt for any of his past girlfriends. Sure he remembers loving Gwen, and he remembers sleeping with her. He remembers how he feels around MJ, but… all those memories… they can’t compare. Peter puts a hand on his chest, looking down as if he can see his own heart underneath._

_Right now, he doesn’t care what his heart says. He has urges coming from deeper down. Urges he’s never experienced before. Urges so strong that he doesn’t want to ignore them._

_But he still does, because he can’t make it too easy for her._

_“Honey, I’m pretty sure you are,” the Cat grins back at him. When Peter turns around, she suddenly stands right in front of him. Her hand rests on his belly, her fingers making soft patterns before they lower down to the part that’s most definitely interested. Peter gasps for breath shortly before he jumps off the roof._

_No, Peter! You came for patrol._

_Peter swings around the town for a little bit further. There’s a group of people that are trying to break into a comic book store. Peter doesn’t even give them a warning, dropping down right behind them and knocking them out in such a speed that the third has only just turned around from the noise before he’s on the ground. Peter shakes his shoulders loose, passes along the message to the cops, and jumps back onto another building._

_“It’s not nice to just leave a girl without warning,” comes behind him. Peter smirks, turning around and opening up his arms in a presenting move._

_“You know what? You catch me, and I won’t run away anymore tonight,” he says, cockily. The girl raises an eyebrow before grinning as well._

_“Deal,” she says. And Peter runs, swings, goes as fast as he can. He loses the Cat, but he’s sure she’ll demand a rematch. He’s not going to refuse that. By the time the sun starts to come up, he swings back to his apartment, crawling back through the window. Right before he closes his eyes, he allows himself to do something about that little interested-bit. And it feels good, so good, imagining the things he could do to the Cat, the things she could do to him._

_Peter’s only barely aware of cleaning himself back up before his eyes close, falling asleep with the suit fallen down on the ground._

* * *

 

_It’s a slow night. Peter’s been on the roof for about an hour, his ears ready to listen to the police-scanners he’s installed in Karen’s program. Of course, it means that he can’t mute her anymore, but it seems like she’s realized he’s not going to answer her whatsoever. Good, Karen’s only a distraction in his head._

_“You look like your date bailed on you.”_

_Peter smirks, closing his eyes as he tries to think of a good comeback._

_“I guess she was just late,” he returns._

_“Are you insinuating that I’m said date, then?” she asks. Peter stands up, turning towards the cat and coming to stand extremely close to her. Without realizing it, he’s put his hands on her hip, pulling her closer to him._

_“Maybe I am,” he says, lowering his head, leaning it towards her. When the Cat closes her eyes, Peter grins and pulls away. “Come on, let’s find something to do.”_

_The Cat makes a frustrated growl upon his sudden disappearance again._

_“Let’s be fair there, did you really think you could actually kiss me through the mask?” Peter tells her right before she can complain. Unimpressed, the Cat raises an eyebrow and crosses her arms._

_“I demand a rematch,” she tells him, much like Peter would have expected. “Only not a chase. If I defeat you in a sparring match, I get free reins, what do you say?”_

_Peter snorts, but then turns around and nods her way._

_“And what do I get when I win?” he asks in return. The Cat leans against the wall, trying to look innocent and weak._

_“I guess I’ll be at your mercy then, as well,” she returns, blinking once or twice with that playful grin. Peter ignores the tingling in his body and loosens his body._

_“Deal,” he says right before he starts sprinting her way. She jumps out of his reach just in time, doing a flip above him before landing behind him. Then, before he can turn around, she jumps on him, crossing her legs around Peter’s neck in the same way he’s seen Natasha do with Bucky often, as well._

_Too bad for the Cat, Peter knows what Bucky always does when he finds himself in that situation. So, he throws himself on the ground, spinning around until he feels the grip around his neck loosening. Then he grabs a hold of the Cat’s arms and pushes them above her head, leaning over her. She looks at him hungrily, lifting her leg a little bit to fit him better against her hips. Then, without warning, she kicks him right in the groin, causing for Peter to pull away with a painful grunt._

_It goes on and on like this, always the two of them almost defeating each other. Peter’s sure he’s going to have a few bruises on his body when he wakes up, but he doesn’t mind. They’ve probably been busy for ten minutes when Peter realizes the Cat’s getting tired. Her breathing is getting heavy, her movements slow. More often than not she ends up on her back, her legs the only thing keeping Peter away from her. But despite her exhaustion, she doesn’t give up._

_Peter likes that._

_Once again, he’s leaning over her, having both of her wrists in a hold above her head. His other hand passes over her side, making sure that this time she’s not going to use her legs to kick him away. And the Cat shakes and tries to get herself loose._

_“Just say that I win,” Peter whispers against her ear. The Cat shakes her head._

_“Never,” she hisses at him. The fights to get her hands loose, fights to roll her body over until she’s leaning over Peter. But no matter how hard she tries, Peter never concedes. And after a while, it seems like the Cat loses that fight. The moment she just lies down without any more resistance, Peter grins. He loses his grip on the girl’s hands and sits up a bit._

_He’s taken by surprise when all of the sudden he’s turned around. His arms and legs are held in a tight grip, one he can’t really get himself out of. With wide eyes, he looks back at the Cat, who grins down at him, now lying on top of him._

_“You should always make sure the enemy has actually admitted defeat,” she grins at him. And Peter knows that, if he would actually try, he could pull himself free from her hold. But he doesn’t, because, to be honest, he’s feeling pretty turned on right now. And this position is not at all that bad._

_“What are you going to do to me now?” Peter asks playfully. The Cat looks at him disbelievingly. “Oh, yeah, I surrender. Whatever.”_

_The Cat grins, letting go of his hands and legs and crawling over Peter with her face right next to his. Then, with her hands, she ever so slightly pulls his mask up until it’s right over his nose._

_“Now, you’re mine,” she says lowly before pressing her lips against his. Peter takes a deep breath through his nose, closing his eyes in an immediate reflex. When the Cat suddenly pulls her face back, Peter frowns. “Unless you do suddenly have to admit that you_ do _in fact have a girlfriend? Because then I’ll stop right here right now.”_

_Peter opens up his eyes again, looking into the Cat’s seemingly glowing green ones. It’s weird how the moon reflects the light inside of them. Peter blinks a few times before smirking, putting his hand on the Cat’s cheek and pulling her closer._

_“Nah, nothing to admit,” Peter says. He doesn’t stop to think about how wrong that is. He doesn’t stop to remember MJ. All he can think about is the Cat sitting on his lap, applying just the perfect amount of pressure on his groin. And she chuckles, moving her hips once again causing for Peter to gasp._

_“Well then, honey, I’ll give you the time of your life,” she whispers against his mouth before taking his lower lip between her teeth. And they shuffle, rub up against each other. Peter’s hand go over the shape of her body, not able to feel her skin through their suits, but not caring about it. As long as she’s kissing him, and that amazing feeling is building up, he doesn’t care._

_It goes on and on for a little while, the pressure building up to a point where Peter sees light in front of his eyes. They barely catch any breath with their lips mashed together._

_But the momentum breaks along with some glass down the street, followed by a scream. The two jump up, breathless and hearts racing fast. Just one short look at each other, and they nod with a smirk. Then Peter pulls his mask down, and the two jump off the roof._

* * *

 

_They’ve been meeting up for the past two weeks or so. Peter always leaves from a party when it gets dull. His head clears, the alcohol no longer dulling his mind. It happens faster than with normal humans, but at the same time, not resting enough could lead to massive headaches in the next morning. Not that Peter cares right now; that’s a matter for his future self._

_Peter’s at the pier. There had been a group of junkies there, making all sorts of wrong life choices. Peter didn’t think it would need his attention, but when they were trying to force some of their shit on to a young boy, Peter put his foot down and kicked all of their asses. They’re now knocked out, webbed up and safely put in the rotten beach house not too far from here. The police will get there eventually._

_Peter looks into the water, as if he’s inviting the sea to bring him its worse. But there’s nothing in there, nothing that could give him a challenge. So Peter waits for_ anything _to happen. Karen is silent in his ear, the police scanner not picking up anything special. It’s a calm evening otherwise._

_He would have expected the Cat to show up already. It’s almost four in the morning, but she’s still not here. By now, Peter’s not really expecting her anymore. It’s alright, though. He’s not one of those clingy types, he doesn’t need to see her every day. Peter looks down at his hands then his suit, and then he looks back at the water._

_It’s not so cold outside. Despite it being October, almost even November, 2018 is bringing a prolonged summer to them. It would be nice to just have a short swim under the light of the moon. He’s got nothing else to do, after all._

_So Peter shrugs off the suit, though keeping the mask on. He’s got good eyesight, but with the mask he can see much better. He might even be able to see under water. What kind of treasure could he find on the bottom of the sea?_

_Unsurprisingly, the water is warm. Peter feels it surround his toes as he tests it out. Then, without any hesitation, he lowers himself into it completely. He can’t remember ever wanting to skinny dip in public like this, but the beach is empty and, honestly, there’s just nothing else for him to do tonight. He’s too riled up to go to sleep, and too curious about the mysteries of the water._

_So Peter dives down. And he goes lower and lower until his ears pop. His mask helps him see as he reaches out into the sand underneath. He digs through it, takes out something hard, but finds that it’s only a rock._

_For fifteen minutes this is what he does. He stays under the water for about fifty seconds, then comes up to get some air and dives back down again. In the end, all he’s found are a few cellphones, which are now definitely broken, a couple of necklaces and a key. He’s at the point of just quitting when, suddenly, his hand grabs something else._

_It’s… a hand? Under a large rock? Peter goes up to get some breath again before he dives back down. Then, with all his strength, he pushes the rock aside, finding to his surprise that the hand belongs to a man. A dead man, that is._

_Well, it’s obvious he’s dead, since he’s got no more head._

_Shit, that’s just disgusting. Peter swims back for a little bit, observing the body. Is there any type of identification, maybe? After another quick rebreathing, Peter digs through the man’s pants in search for a wallet or anything. Still, there’s nothing there for him to find. He decides to give up, swimming back up and jumping back on the deck._

_“My, my, if I’d known I’d see some hot Spider’s ass I would have come sooner.”_

_Peter turns around, seeing the Cat suddenly walk up to him. So, she came after all. His mind is only vaguely remembering the body down on the bottom, distracted when his eyes lower at her cleavage, watching her breasts bounce slightly up and down as she walks up to him. Is it him, of did she neglect to wear a bra today? They never seemed that bouncy before, after all._

_“I’m sorry, unless you have a reservation you cannot touch the Spider’s ass,” Peter jokes, walking up to her without even being bothered about the fact that he’s completely naked other than his mask. She doesn’t seem to be complaining about it, either._

_“My, I would say ‘my eyes are up here’ but I’m finding myself guilty of doing the exact same thing,” the Cat jokes, keeping her eyes downwards to exactly where Peter can guess she’s looking at._

_“Well, how about an eye for an eye then? Just… less bloody,” Peter whispers up against her. Cat shivers a bit before putting a hand on Peter’s bare, wet chest. With her face pressed against his cheek, she feels at his muscles while stepping right up to him. Her thigh comes up between Peter’s legs, causing for him to gasp shortly._

_“I think you got yourself a deal,” the Cat says. Then she reaches for the mask and pulls it up to get to Peter’s lips. The kiss is hot and heavy as always. Peter leans in to it, pulling a bit at her suit in an attempt to take it off, but so far Peter has never seen her out of it. He has no idea how to free her of the clothes._

_She offers the solution, reaching to somewhere on her side and zipping it down. Wow, Peter hadn’t even noticed that’s the way to do it. It’s really well hidden, it seems._

_His suspicions of the Cat not wearing a bra are confirmed when she shrugs the suit off. Both of them uncaring about the fact that they’re still in public, the Cat drops down her suit right next to Peter’s, leaving the both of them wearing nothing at all other than their masks._

_Peter hesitates only for a little bit longer before the Cat grabs at his hand and directs it to her breast. Peter lets out a long breath then, feeling it under the palm of his hand, squeezing down a little bit. The Cat chuckles, letting Peter inspect her a little bit._

_After a while, she seems to have enough of the small touches. She puts her arms over Peter’s shoulders and pulls him along to the wall behind her. Then, without warning, she jumps up, straddling her legs around Peter’s hips and holding up to him with a certain strength a normal girl wouldn’t have._

_“I want you now, Spidey,” she whispers in his ear. “Just give it to me.”_

_And Peter shudders, but he nods. He doesn’t think about MJ, doesn’t think about the precautions. Doesn’t think about the possible consequences. Peter just pushes the Cat further up against the wall, holds on to her hips and aligns himself perfectly. Almost as if he’s done this many times before – which he hasn’t – he digs himself deeper into the Cat, causing for the two of them to grunt. At first there’s a bit of discomfort from her side. She turns her head to the left, biting her lip while he pushes in deeper. Peter, on the other hand, finds himself overwhelmed of the explosion of feelings suddenly surrounding him. He squeezes into the Cat’s hips, just moving on forward until he can’t go any further. Then, his eyes look for hers as he waits for her approval to continue._

_“Fuck,” she whispers, putting her hands on Peter’s cheeks and pulling his face towards her. With their mouths smashed together, not really into a kiss, she nods enthusiastically. “Go on,” she assures him. Peter doesn’t need to be told twice._

_At one point, during it all, the Cat asks him to lie down on the ground. The stone grinds into her back and her skin starts to color red. With her lying down on her stomach and with him resting on top of her, Peter carefully kisses her back, finding all the scratches and paying attention to them. Five more minutes later, she insists on turning around again, this time with Peter on his back and her sitting on his lap. They move like this for ten more minutes before it happens._

_Reaching their peak, neither of them can keep their voices down. Peter shouts loud enough that probably people across the street might have heard it. That in combination with the Cat’s loud groan, could alarm some people._

_They don’t move, though. With the Cat lying down on top of him, her head resting on Peter’s chest and their fingers tangled together, Peter wonders, just for a short second, what exactly is happening here. His free hand is on her lower back, making small patterns while the two of them catch their breath._

_What is the Cat expecting of him now? Does she see him as her boyfriend? Because Peter’s pretty sure he doesn’t need any of that stuff. They might as well have been friends with benefits or anything like that. If she expects an actual relationship out of him, he’s afraid he’ll leave her disappointed._

_“My, am I glad I’m taking those anti-conceptive pills,” the Cat suddenly breathes into his neck. Then, suddenly, she leans up a little bit, looking down at Peter’s face. “Wait, you were clean, right?”_

_Peter snorts. “Obviously,” he says, not even sure if he could actually catch anything. Though, he’s still able to catch a cold, so he’s not going to cross out anything._

_“Great, that’s… great.” The Cat leans back down, closing her eyes a little bit. Peter, too, closes his eyes. It’s not the most comfortable position to be in right now, in all honesty just wishing he could free himself from the Cat and get back into his clothing. But he’s not an ass. He’ll stay put for a little bit longer._

_When there’s a sudden police siren in the background, the opportunity for detachment seems to arise. Good, they have something to do, then. Freeing themselves from each other, the two of them quickly grab their suits before jumping back into the city._

_“Oh, right, Karen, can you call the cops and report that body I found in the water?” Peter suddenly remembers._

_“A BODY?!” the Cat shouts from a bit further away._

 

* * *

 

 

Nobody really knows how they would react if they’d find out their body has been doing things – big things – without really being aware of it. You could be nauseous. You could be terrified. Scared, angry, relieved for knowing where the missing parts come from…

It’s already been a day with way too much happening. Scratch that, not a day. A whole freaking week or so. This shit with Johnny, then MJ, then Uncle Ben’s killer, then finding out he freaking DIED in an alternate reality his dads fixed (That part has not quite yet sunk in, so Peter figures it’s going to take a little bit before he realizes he actually _died_ ), and now these supposed blackouts. Peter’s never been so close to nauseated outside of a disease. With his tablet on his lap and a few teardrops having fallen on them, Peter takes a shaky breath while he tries to hold back a sob.

Is it possible that, in his moments of blackouts, he actually went and got himself in some sort of relationship with the Black Cat? A girl Peter doesn’t even know by her actual name! She’s just always been the Cat in his mind!

Besides, Peter has no idea what he had been thinking during his blackouts. He’s seen what Karen has recorded, but it’s not like he has the habit of talking out loud so often it was just long silences. He couldn’t hear his own thoughts, making everything even vaguer.

What he got to see now where about three, maybe four weeks of content. Video images of things he doesn’t remember happening, of his other self going out in the streets and protecting them from evil, only not always in the best way.

The other Peter didn’t mind knocking people – powerless people – out. He didn’t mind using his strength, didn’t mind punching the bad guys right in the face just as a first punishment. The actual Peter would, in every possible situation, try to avoid getting too violent.

Peter can also kind of understand the Cat’s fixation on him in the past few weeks. The rumors for relationships and other stuff. The idea that Peter’s actually slept with her at least twice in the past three weeks is enough to make him shiver on the spot. He feels violated by his own subconscious.

A short look at his hands, and he realizes he’s wearing the suit again. He can’t even remember putting it back on.

“So you think the suit has something to do with it?”

Peter wipes a tear away, shrugging as he finds himself unable to give his Dad a straight answer.

“I’m not sure,” Peter says. “The suit… it came out of nowhere. I woke up with it one night. There was no Karen, none of any of your other tech.”

“Then why didn’t you questiion it?” Tony asks. He doesn’t have his tablet near. Luckily, since Peter wouldn’t have wanted for him to see what exactly Peter missed during the nights he went on patrol without remembering it.

“Because…” Peter mutters, sniffing his nose once. “Because I felt so much stronger, invincible. I was fast, agile, flexible. Even more than before so…”

Tony raises an eyebrow at him.

“What” Peter asks, curiously.

“Son, you don’t need a suit to make you stronger,” Tony mutters. “I thought you knew that since the whole Vulture-stuff?”

Peter shakes his head again. “No, Dad, you don’t understand. I am _actually_ stronger than before with the suit. I feel less pain, I seem faster, stronger, more durable. I felt it the first night I had it on. It’s- I can’t describe it.”

Tony reaches out for him, taking his arm into his hands and looking at the fabric.

“Can you take it off? So I could have a look at it perhaps?” Tony asks. Peter shrugs, standing up from his bed and pressing on the same spot he always does to take it off.

It doesn’t loosen. It stays on just as tightly as before. Peter frowns as he looks down.

“What the-?” he asks in confusion. He starts pulling a bit at his neck to see if the fabric stretches along a little bit. He’s disappointed to see that’s a negative.

“Peter?” Tony asks in confusion. Peter holds up his hands questioningly.

“I can’t get it off!” Peter calls out, a bit louder than before. Tony gives him a long look before he, too, moves forward and tries to take it off. When he can’t seem to make any progress on it either, Tony hums while putting a finger on his chin.

“Will you hate me if I try cutting it off?” Tony asks.

“Hell no, I don’t want any part of it anymore!” Peter almost yells. He can’t believe it. He could always take it off whenever he wanted, but now that he actually _needs_ it off, it doesn’t participate! Almost as if it read his mind and decided to stick along the moment it found out Peter wasn’t going to wear it anymore.

Having gone to the desk, Tony returns with a pair of scissors. Then at the neck, he pulls on the fabric enough to put one blade behind it. In one swift movement he cuts down three times.

“Alright, now we’ll rip it,” Tony mutters. He puts down the scissors and looks back up at his son. When his eyes widen, Peter feels a bit of worry.

“What is it?” he asks.

“It grew back together…” Tony returns. Peter tries to feel at the spot Tony cut not five seconds ago, realizing that, indeed, the neck is intact again.

“So I’m not getting this thing off, then?” Peter asks in defeat. All he gets in return is a worried look from his father.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Three days left until Infinity War here in Belgium. I'm all kinds of nervous! Anyway, another update, because that damn deadline is getting closer and closer!   
> Chapter warning:  
> \- Arguments  
> \- Fucking Venom Fucking shit up  
> \- more in the end notes

Peter sleeps in the suit. It’s not like he has another choice, really; ever since realizing that there’s something wrong with it, they’ve tried many ways to take it off. They’ve tried cutting, pulling, freezing. They’ve thought about burning the suit, but they couldn’t try that without risking Peter’s health, so they decided to skip that one.

At one point, Bruce tried to take a sample from the suit’s fabric. They cut off a piece of the suit, expecting it to fix itself back eventually. But with the sample they’ve gotten themselves, it seems stubborn as well. Holding it in a small container, Bruce tried to take it to a microscope. He wasn’t fast enough, seeing as the small piece dissolves into a black goo and evaporates itself into the air, disappearing from view.

Tony was just about ready to start cursing at that point.

He’s staying with Peter during the night. For his own safety, Peter’s put on lockdown to prevent him from sleepwalking again. It’s actually per Peter’s request that they do this, so nobody complains about it. In shifts from two hours every time, two people keep an eye on Peter. Tony is first, like he requested. When Peter goes to bed, still shook from the entire day and at the verge of tears at the realization that a lot of things have happened out of his control, Tony takes place on the bed right next to Peter, only lying on top of the covers, and while Peter tries to sleep Tony passes his hand through Peter’s messy hair, kissing him on the top of his head once or twice.

As Peter lies asleep next to him, Tony takes his time to look at his son. Really look at him. He’s spent two weeks in complete radio-silence with no kind of news coming from him. It saddens Tony to see his boy so worn out. He looks like being tired is his main setting; there are dark circles under his eyes, which seem permanently red. His boy looks broken, at the verge of tears. Now that the high of the suit has come down and realization has hit, it has gone downward for his boy.

May should be here. Steve should be here. He’s not a good father, he doesn’t know how to be a parent. It’s not like he’s had a good example from his own parents, after all. Now that Peter’s asleep, at least Tony can’t fuck him up more than he would is he would be awake. As long as Tony doesn’t have to speak, just hold his boy in his arms, there’s nothing he needs to be worried about.

It’s a matter for when he wakes up again.

Peter’s phone goes off on the nightstand. Tony looks to the side, feeling Peter stir a bit in his arms. Luckily, he doesn’t wake up. Tony carefully leans to the side to take the phone. After seeing who’s calling, he quickly picks it up.

“May, this is Tony. Peter’s asleep,” Tony says in a whisper.

“ _Tony! The King’s people are flying me back right now, but we’re still about an hour or so away. What’s going on over there?”_ May asks. Tony quickly establishes a connection with Peter’s phone and directs the call back to him. After that, he puts the device down again.

“Something has happened to Peter,” Tony starts. Carefully, he explains everything he can to the woman, not even bothering to hide away the fact that a black Spider-Man suit is a part of it. She doesn’t ask about it, either, so it’s possible that she might have actually known. That, or she rather asks it in person.

“ _My poor boy,”_ May says, sounding sad as well. “ _Has anybody contacted his psychiatrist yet? To get a new prescription I mean?”_

Tony shakes his head. “I’m not sure it’s a good idea to just start where he left off. It’s been a couple of weeks since he’s last taken his meds. I think it’s better to take a few blood samples and discuss it with the doctor.”

“ _You’re probably right,”_ May admits. “ _You’re at the tower right now?”_

“Yes. I’ll prepare the landing platform for the ship to come down. FRIDAY will let you in. You know where Peter’s room is.”

_“Yes. Thank you, Tony. I know you might not believe it, but you’re a good Dad to my boy and I’m glad he has you.”_

Tony huffs out a breath, disbelieving of what May is trying to tell him. “As if. I haven’t spoken to him in 2 weeks because he was angry at me and didn’t want to talk to me.” Tony looks back down at his boy, continuing his strokes through Peter’s hair and happy to see his peaceful face as he sleeps.

May chuckles a bit on the other side of the line. “ _Peter’s stubborn. Can you blame him? His mom was stubborn, too. Huh, even his dad is, now that I think of it.”_

Tony, too, snorts. He kisses Peter’s head once again just because he feels that strong urge once more.

“ _I’ll hang up now. Though I expect us two to have a talk about you giving my boy high-tech superhero suits, alright?”_

Shit, right okay she probably knows. Tony clears his throat, swallowing through a hard lump before nodding.

“Yes, ma’am,” he says. May laughs again before hanging up the phone. Tony closes his eyes, trying to see where everybody currently is in the tower. He keeps his mind open for incoming aircrafts as well, while at the same time trying to brainstorm for ideas to free his son from this parasitic suit he’s gotten himself with.

Tony doesn’t know when he falls asleep. It’s probably a miracle that, during that time, Peter hasn’t moved. Tony’s awakened by somebody shaking his shoulder, causing for him to jump up and almost waking Peter up in the process. Peter, who shifts a bit in his sleep and makes a small complaining sound but doesn’t otherwise move.

“Tony,” May says next to him. Tony can’t believe he slept through her arrival. The woman looks a bit tanned, despite only being in Wakanda for a few short days. “Tony go to bed, I’ll watch over him.”

Tony rubs his eyes, yawning a bit before nodding. He leans his head a bit to the side so that it’s resting on Peter’s for a few short seconds before he finally pries himself loose of his son. Swiftly, May takes place on the exact spot Tony has only just departed from.

May seems to form a protective cocoon over her nephew. Peter doesn’t respond, too deep into his sleep probably. Looking back up at Tony, she gives him a light smile.

“Rhodey’s here, too. So is the Princess; she said she wanted to try and help with getting the suit off.”

Tony nods. He takes May’s hand into his own and squeezes it gently before pulling away.

“Thank you, May,” he says. Then he walks to the door, not at all pleased that he’s going to leave his son behind but at least comforted by the idea that somebody capable is looking after him. Once he gets to the living room, he’s shocked by the explosion of people currently sitting there.

“How’s it going?” Barnes asks without moving from the couch. Natasha’s next to him, with Clint on her other side. Scott and Hope are at the kitchenette preparing something that looks like hot coco. It smells like it, at least.

Tony doesn’t speak, instead just walks up at Rhodey and wraps him into a tight hug as a greeting. It’s strange, but at the same time extremely relieving to see the guy stand up on his own two legs again, without the help of his high-tech prosthesis.

“Ho there, Tony,” Rhodey chuckles out, slapping him gently on the back. Tony can’t help but let out a long, shaky breath. Why is he feeling like he’s at the verge of crying?

“Whoa, what happened?” Sam suddenly asks, coming from somewhere behind Tony. Given the sound of a toilet being flushed, Tony figures he went to the bathroom.

Tony pulls back from the hug, looking at the other Avengers. Or a part of them. Wanda and Vision are downstairs, with Bruce in his lab. They’re trying to work with what they’ve got, having taken a small, too small, piece of the suit and using Wanda’s powers to keep it from evaporating. Vision is there to assist him. Given the lack of Shuri in the room, Tony figures she’s downstairs as well.

“Nothing happened, May just took over. You guys can go to sleep now, I’ll take it back over from her when she gets tired.”

Everybody looks at Tony like he’s crazy, and for a moment Tony even believes it. He scrapes his throat again, not caring if it hurts from doing that too much.

“Right, I’m not alone in this, I get it,” Tony mutters. “But, to be fair, if there’s an attack tomorrow and everybody’s lacking sleep, then fuck-ups are going to happen. At least a couple of you should catch some z’s.”

A couple of the Avengers look at each other. Barnes meets eyes with Sam and Clint before the three men nod and stand up.

“You’re right. We’ll head to bed, then,” Clint says. “Nat, you’re staying here?” He looks down at the woman on the couch, who gives him an unimpressed look.

“This spider is not going to sleep until she knows her nephew-spider is safe,” she says. “Go on to bed, we’ll bring you guys up to date tomorrow.” Barnes leans forward to kiss her on the cheek before he follows Clint and Sam to the door. They nod towards Scott and Hope.

“You should go,” Hope tells Scott. “I’ll go downstairs and see if I can help down at the lab.”

“I can help, too?” Scott suggests. Hope gives him a smile and puts a hand on his cheek before patting him three times.

“Dear, you have a masters in _Electrical Engineering_ ,” she tells him dryly before pulling her hand away and get back to the couch. Natasha snorts for a short moment before turning her head to the side to hide that fact away.

“Wha, uh, so does Stark and he helped earlier!” Scott counters to that. Tony raises an eyebrow at him.

“I think everybody seems to forget I have three PhDs,” Tony mutters out. Rhodey laughs and slaps him on the shoulder before dropping down on the couch.

“Be careful, Scott, or he’s going to ask us to call him ‘Dr. Stark’ in the future and nobody wants that,” Rhodey jokes. Scott rolls his eyes and starts grumbling something before dropping his mug on the counter.

“Fine, I’ll go to sleep,” he mutters. “Though, in my defense, education is expensive!”

Hope laughs before patting Scott on the shoulder. “It’s alright, dear. Just go to sleep. I’ll see you in a bit.”

And with that, after a quick goodnight to everybody, Scott, too, is out of the penthouse. After that, Tony stands in the middle of the room with Rhodey and Nat looking at him with that worried expression they always have whenever they’re worried about him. Obviously.

“You okay, Tony?” Rhodey asks. Tony shifts his head a bit, crosses his arms again and steps towards the window.

“Yeah, just my head going a bit in overdrive again. I’m trying to see what the progress is downstairs.”

“Uh, sure, but your tablet is here?” Rhodey asks in confusion. Natasha then shakes her head at him.

“That idiot made his brain into an actual super-computer in a way,” she explains. “I could explain it to you, but it’s way above my knowledge. I’m pretty savvy with computers but even I don’t know how he managed to do this shit.”

Tony doesn’t turn around, all too aware that Rhodey is giving him a glare.

“YOU DID WHAT?!” he hisses at him, trying to shout in a whisper. Tony takes a deep breath. Here’s to a whole lot of explaining.

Yeah, he’s glad Rhodey’s back. Now just to calm the platypus for a bit.

 

* * *

 

 

There’s somebody stroking his hair. Soft, slim fingers, moving over his scalp in such a loving gesture. Peter doesn’t want to open his eyes, yet, enjoying the feeling too much for now. He lifts up a hand to put above the one on his head.

“Hey, May,” Peter greets his aunt. He doesn’t need to see her to know it’s her. He knows her strokes to his head, knows the feel of her hands, her breathing. He’s been raised by her, he could recognize her even if he would have been deaf and blind at the same time.

“Hey, sweety,” May mumbles against his ear. “Did you sleep well?”

Peter hums in confirmation. He feels extremely well-rested. It’s a big relief after more than a month of barely sleeping. With a groan, he stretches his limbs and his neck before he pushes himself up into a seating position. Then he finally opens his eyes. The sun is shining in the room. Good.

“Where’s Tony?” Peter asks with a cracking voice. He rubs his eyes, letting out a yawn. Then he turns back towards his Aunt, who is still seated on the bed looking relieved.

“He left about an hour ago, I sent him to bed. He stayed up the entire night again, switching in looking after you and helping out Bruce. Natasha’s asleep on the couch. James is with Tony.”

Peter nods. He puts a hand on his stomach, feeling hungry all of the sudden.

“I’ll get you some breakfast. After that, the others will want to look over that suit again,” May says, getting up on her feet and nodding towards Peter, whose eyes suddenly open up wide. He gasps in surprise, putting his hands on his chest and looking down.

Shit. He’s wearing the suit.

“May, I’m-“ Peter starts, but he doesn’t know what he can say. Does he need to apologize here? Should he explain what happened? Should he-?

“Don’t try to explain, Peter. I’ll hear the story when I’ll hear it,” she says while leaning forward and kissing him on the top of his head. “To be fair, I might have known for a little while. You have always been kind of terrible at keeping secrets.”

“But, then why didn’t you tell me anything?” Peter asks in confusion. May sighs, putting her hands on her hips.

“Because… I wanted you to tell me on your own time. Besides… I knew you had Tony watching over your back ever since that Goblin attacked you. He’s not going to let you get in any danger.”

Peter lets out a long breath. He doesn’t really know what he should think about this.

“But if I’m honest, I like the red and blue better,” May jokes. “So let’s get this crap off of you and make you back into the Spider-Man we all know, alright?”

Peter smiles as well, standing up and pulling May into a tight hug. She starts chuckling, wrapping her arms protectively around him.

“You do know that, if you didn’t have the Avengers around you when I found out, I might have grounded you for life, right?”

Peter laughs as well. “I might have suspected, yeah.”

“Good,” May jokes. “C’mon, we’ll get some food into you and-“

A blaring alarm interrupts her as she speaks. Peter and May put their hands on their ears, startling when all of the sudden the door flies open. Storming inside are Tony, followed by Natasha and Rhodey.

“Are you alright?!” Tony asks, shouting over the alarm.

“Yeah, I’m fine!” Peter shouts back.

“TONY TURN DOWN THAT ALARM DAMN IT!” Rhodey shouts as well. Then, as if on cue, the alarm stops at last.

“ _The other members of the Avengers have been alerted and are asking if they need to suit up?”_ FRIDAY asks. Peter frowns.

“Wait, what? What’s going on?” he asks in confusion.

“Dr. Strange requests assistance in Midtown. Apparently, an old friend of him has returned seeking for revenge. Strange’s hurt,” Tony mutters out. He turns towards the others. “Suit up and get there as quickly as you can. Wanda and Hope, you two stay here with Bruce and Shuri and try to figure out what to do with that suit. We’ll help out Strange.”

“What about me?” Peter asks, pointing at himself.

“You are not going out there!” May calls out sternly.

“But May-!”

“She’s right, Peter! Head down to the lab and let the others help you out.”

Peter glares at them, shaking his head.

“Yeah, as if. I can help,” he mutters out, grabbing his mask from the ground and putting it over his head.

“Peter, that’s the suit talking, not you,” Natasha warns him. Peter rolls his eyes, but doesn’t answer. He walks up to the window and tries to open it, only to find out that it doesn’t move. A look behind him, and Peter figures Tony must have locked it before Peter could do anything.

“You’re not leaving this tower until we’ve taken that suit off of you,” Tony warns him. Peter stares for a little bit longer, finally deciding to walk back to them after a few seconds of silence. The others seem to relax at his sudden will to co-operate, though Tony is still eyeing him suspiciously.

“Right, I’ll start up the Quinjet,” Natasha then says, running out of the room. May has her arms crossed, looking extremely uncomfortable around a whole bunch of superheroes ready for action. She has her eyes trained on Peter, observing him carefully.

“ _Sir, an anomaly has shown up on the balcony,”_ FRIDAY says. “ _It seems like Captain Rogers has just arrived, though I am unsure as how his sudden arrival is possible.”_

“Steve?” Tony breathes out, his voice suddenly cracking. Peter barely even reacts to it. Instead, he takes the moment of distraction as the exact thing he needs right now. He looks back at the window, figuring it might hurt a little bit. But it’s worth it. He takes a deep breath, waits for everybody to walk out a they search for Steve.

Then Peter starts running. Running towards the window, throwing all his weight onto it. It shatters under him, cutting a bit through the suit and slashing his skin here and there. What hurts more is the impact of himself against the glass before it breaks. For a moment, he’s breathless, taking a second or two to recover.

That’s when he realizes he’s falling down from an incredible height.

“Shit!” he calls out, shooting a web to keep himself from getting all the way to the ground. Then he starts swinging. A quick look up and he can see a bunch of clouds surrounding the tower. Peter recognizes that from somewhere… Like… when Thanos used to travel from one place to the other using the tesseract.

The Space stone, which is in New Asgard. Thor must have sent Steve back here with that.

No time to think about it. Peter continues his swinging, not thinking about the others upstairs. He can help Strange in the meantime. Surely, the guy isn’t going to be picky about it.

Wait, wasn’t he supposed to stay in the tower? Peter blinks a few times, suddenly confused. Because of that, he misses his next cue and slams against the wall of the next building. Painfully, he lets out a groand.

“ _PETER!”_ somebody shouts behind him. Peter turns around, finding Iron Man already going after him.

“Dad, what’s going on? Why am I outside?” Peter asks, confused as to what’s happening. He remembers the alarm, remembers Tony telling him to stay inside, but after that…

“ _You jumped out of your window, now get back inside or you’re going to get hurt!”_

Peter looks down, blinking when he hears a crash underneath him. A few alarms from cars fill his ears, a man shouting – in anger or in pain, Peter doesn’t know.

“But I’m here anyway, I can help now,” Peter offers.

“ _Peter-“_ Tony starts, but Peter doesn’t stick around to listen. He drops himself down in a freefall, breaking his momentum just in time. His landing is right in front of Strange, who has just been thrown across the street, smashing against a car.

“Dr. Strange, are you alright?” Peter asks. The guy groans, looking bloody and beaten. Peter quickly runs up to him to check if he’s not too hurt. If so, he should probably carry him to a hospital or so.

“Stay out of this, Spider-boy,” somebody behind him says. Peter turns around, finding a man coming up to him. He’s dressed in the same fashion as Strange, only seeming to favor the green color. His eyes, somehow, are glowing the same color as well. He looks menacing, ready to kill who-ever he needs to get to Strange.

“Uh, yeah, no, that guy might be a dick sometimes but he’s a friend,” Peter returns, pointing behind him to the hurt body of Dr. Strange, who is trying to get himself back on his feet. “And we don’t really take kindly to people hurting our friends.”

“ _PETER, GET OUT OF THERE!”_ Iron Man suddenly shouts from above him. Peter looks up, suddenly distracted. That seems to be enough for the man, as Peter’s suddenly pushed back by an impressive force. Landing on the car right next to Strange, Peter groans in pain. He doesn’t really appreciate the impact.

“Thanks, dad,” Peter mutters mostly to himself. He’s glad to see Iron Man pushing the guy back with his repulsors. Shit, he should have at least eaten something before coming here.

_“Peter, I need you to get back to the tower right now. The others and I will take care of this,”_ Tony urges on carefully, pulling away his mask. As if on cue, the Quinjet flies over them, landing not too far from where they are sitting.

“But Dad, what about this; I’ll look after Strange while you hold down that crazy guy over there?” Peter suggests. He can agree on not fighting along, but he can at least make sure Strange doesn’t die on the spot.

“ _Peter-!”_ Tony starts, but then he’s suddenly slammed to the side. The crazy dude has returned, looking annoyed at being disturbed like that. Peter freezes on the spot when the man starts walking back his way, hands ready to throw whatever spell he can think of at him.

“Hold it right there, sir!” a familiar voice calls out. Peter feels immediate relief when he sees Steve run out of the quinjet, his shield at the ready. His skin looks a bit tanned, his hair slightly longer than the last time Peter saw him. And is Peter just imagining it, or is Steve letting his beard grow again? Tony might be happy to see that.

“You people should not be meddling with affairs that are not yours,” the guy calls out, suddenly sounding angry. Peter looks, horrified, as he prepares another spell and promptly blows up the Quinjet with a hard explosion that literally seems to come out of nowhere.

Next to him, Strange mumbles something through bloodied lips. Peter startles, turning back to the sorcerer.

“What did you say?” Peter asks, leaning forward to get his ear closer to Strange’s mouth.

“Mordo’s too strong… we need Wanda Maximoff,” he whispers out. Peter gasps in confusion, pulling back again and turning towards the tower. It’s far away, but not that far. Wanda could make it here easily.

“Karen, can you connect me to the comm link of the Avengers, please?” Peter asks.

“ _Of course, Peter,”_ Karen returns. Then, almost immediately, Peter hears a bunch of curses in his ears.

“ _-JUST BLEW UP THE FUCKING QUINJET OF COURSE I’M NOT STAYIN CALM!”_

_“We can’t rush through it! Widow and Vision, make sure the entire area is closed off. No civilians nearby. Falcon and War Machine, get this guy’s attention from the sky. Ant Man, try to get close and search for weak spots. Iron Man, please respond for crying out loud!”_

“STEVE! Steve, it’s me, Spidey!”

“ _PETER?! Get out of there, now!”_

“But Steve, Strange told me he needs Wanda to defeat the guy, and- wait, do you have an extra comm link? Maybe it’s better for him if he can join in on the conversation and-“

“ _Peter Parker, I am taking you home right now,”_ Iron Man suddenly calls out, hovering above him with that same menacing mask as always. Peter looks up, shaking his head.

“In a minute, first I need to make sure he has a comm! When I’m in the tower I’ll get Wanda to come here as quickly as possible and-“

“ _He’ll have my comm link, now get to your feet and come here!”_

“But dad-?”

“ _YOU ARE NOT GIVING YOUR COMM LINK TO STRANGE, IRON MAN, WE NEED TO KEEP YOU ON THE LINE!”_

“ _Chillax, Rogers, I don’t need a comm link anymore to keep me connected with you guys,”_ Iron Man counters to the Captain’s sudden outburst.

“ _What do you mean with that?”_

_“I mean that my brain is connected to all your comm links without me needing an actual one. Strange can take the one in my helmet and that’s that.”_

_“HOW IN THE HELL IS YOUR BRAIN CONNECTED?!”_

“ _Guys, do you really need to do this right here?”_ Widow asks in between their bickering. At that moment, Steve comes running back towards them.

“Steve, how did you even get here?” Peter suddenly asks, not even remembering Steve arriving. Has the suit taken over again at the point where Steve returned to New York? That sucks, Peter would have loved to greet him back in a normal way without this whole situation right now.

“Peter, I told you to get out of here,” the Captain says sternly before looking back at Tony. “And you, what did you do?!”

“ _Why do you even care? Had you actually bothered to pick up the phone in the past few weeks you would have known about it immediately,”_ Tony snaps back.

“ _Guys, we are in the middle of a battle,”_ Rhodey calls out in their ears. Tony and Steve both seem to ignore him. Next to Peter, Strange groans in frustration as well.

“Had you not kicked me out again all this shit wouldn’t have happened, Tony!”

“ _I DIDN’T KICK YOU OUT, DIDN’T YOU LISTEN TO MY MESSAGE?”_

“Yeah I did, but you didn’t seem to do much effort in getting me back here, did you?”

“ _Then why are you here, now?”_

“BECAUSE OF PETER, THAT’S WHY!”

“Hey come on now, don’t start fighting over me again, guys!”

Steve suddenly points at Peter, not keeping his eyes away from Tony, who by now has retracted the helmet again. With his comm link in his hand, he throws it towards Strange. Peter catches it quickly, handing it to the sorcerer.

“In those messages you’ve sent me, you could have at least _told_ me about the fact that Peter was acting strange, Tony!”

“If you hadn’t run off, I wouldn’t have had to do that, Steve!”

“You’re unbelievable, you know that! Get it in your thick head, Tony: I CARE ABOUT PETER! He’s like a son to me! If you could just stop for a moment with all your crap, you’d realize this!”

“IF HE’S LIKE A SON TO YOU, YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE LEFT LIKE THAT!”

“IN NORMAL CIRCUMSTANCES THE AVENGERS WOULD HAVE GONE TO NEW ASGARD ANYWAY!”

“THEN THAT WOULD MEAN YOU’RE AN AVENGER BEFORE BEING A PARENT, STEVE!”

“GUYS! STOP FIGHTING!” Peter throws in. When both Tony and Steve turn to look at him, Peter points towards Mordo, who is looking furious.

“You three are driving me insane with your mundane troubles!” Mordo shouts angrily. He holds up his hands, indicating he’s preparing another spell. Tony pulls up his helmet again, Steve raises his shield, and Peter gets ready to get some webs up.

“ _Hold on, guys!”_ Bucky shouts in their ears.

“Maybe a moment apart will get you to shut your ridiculous mouths.”

Before any of them can engage in the attack, a green light surrounds them. Peter looks around him, confused and suddenly scared. What’s happening? What’s Mordo going to do?!

A strange, invisible force starts pushing him backwards. Or, no, not pushing. Pulling. It comes from behind him. Peter looks over his shoulder, seeing nothing but a blinding light.

“NO!” he shouts, throwing a web somewhere against a building and using it to keep himself from being completely sucked in. Next to him, he can already see Steve and Tony losing their battle with this strange gravity. In their individual portals, the two of them suddenly disappear. As soon as they’re sucked in, the portal made of light disappears as well.

Peter tries to hold on. He tries as much as he can. But even from where he’s currently hanging on for his life, he can see the web giving up. Small strands of black web breaks, thinning it out to a point where Peter’s rather surprised it’s still holding him.

Eventually, the last strand holding on gives up as well. With a shout, Peter finds himself sucked into a portal made of bright light. And at first he feels something warm over him, but after that, it’s only dark.

Peter closes his eyes and lets the darkness surround him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, May knows! There's going to be an actual talk about this, though! Don't you worry!  
> I feel like I need to point this out, though: Peter's too much under the influence of the suit. He's aware of what his Dad said about the Infinity War and what happened there, but his mind can't process it yet, being too hyper and distracted because of the suit. It's all going to sink in soon enough, but I just felt like I needed to explain this bit. Of course he cares, just not right now! 
> 
> Steve is back because of the Tesseract. With it still on Asgard, Thor used it to help Steve travel from New Asgard to New York. I don't want his return to make you wonder how that's even possible, so I thought I should explain it quickly! Of course, Steve is going to shed light on the subject soon enough! 
> 
> Also, I felt myself getting annoyed while writing down that argument. I hope everybody gets just as annoyed as Mordo's supposed to feel. That was definitely my intention! Just so you can say in the end 'THAT'S WHAT YOU GET, IDIOTS!'


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoop! Here's another one!   
> Chapter warnings:  
> \- none really

It’s not often that Peter wakes up in an alleyway, lying on the ground with nothing but stone under him.

To be fair, it’s never happened before at all. Uncomfortable with the position, Peter rolls a bit to the side. His back aches, his hips aches. Heck, even his goddamn ass aches. Peter groans as he gets on his stomach. The stones on the street scrapes against his face.

“Shit,” he mutters. Gently, he tries to open his eyes, finding much to his surprise that it’s dark outside.

That’s weird… the last thing he remembers was the fight in Midtown, and Peter’s extremely sure it was still light back then. Carefully, he tries sitting up a bit, getting on his knees while wiping his arms clean. That’s when he sees he’s still wearing the black suit.

“Ah, great,” he mutters to himself. He takes a few more seconds before he gets onto his feet. Then, he walks out of the alleyway – he should be happy that at least nobody found him like this. “Karen, can you maybe call my Dad for me?”

There’s only silence in return. Peter waits for Karen to respond, but nothing happens. Not even a few messages come up on his visor. Peter scratches his head in confusion, pulling off the mask to quickly check if anything got messed up in the battle.

Shit, the fight against that Mordo-guy! How did that end up? If they left him lying there, that must mean that everybody’s probably knocked out as well! Peter puts the mask back on and starts running. He vaguely recognizes where he currently is, knowing Midtown well enough after going to school there for many years. He takes the familiar shortcuts, barely aware of the few people on the streets looking at him curiously.

Arriving at the place of the battle, Peter is faced with an even bigger mystery: there’s no sign of the battle there. No broken cars, no pieces of glass. Nothing that indicates that Mordo blew up the Quinjet. It’s as if they’ve cleaned everything up in that short timespan and haven’t made a crime-scene of it at all, which Peter doubts.

_I need to call Tony_ , Peter tells himself. But he has no phone on him. He needs to borrow one. Hopefully, somebody’ll want to help him out? Carefully, still with a lot of kinks in his body, Peter walks through the streets. It’s mostly empty, and the few people that he tries to address all shake their heads at him before he can even ask for their phone. Nobody wants to help him, much to his surprise.

Until, eventually, somebody around Peter’s age decides to ask what’s wrong.

“Oh, hi, do you remember anything about a fight here this morning?” Peter asks, pointing back to the place where the fight had been going before he blacked out. The girl looks at him in confusion.

“There hasn’t been a fight in Midtown today?” she admits. “Do you need me to call you a ride home perhaps?”

Peter shakes his head, until he realizes what the girl just said.

A phone! She offered him to call for somebody!

“Uh, yeah! Yeah!” Peter shouts, a little bit too loud, thus startling the girl a little bit. She eyes him like she’s about ready to just run off at any point. Carefully, she takes out her phone and hands it to Peter.

“Now don’t go running off with it, it’s like my third phone this year,” she mumbles out, a bit in annoyance.

“No, no, I’m not going to,” Peter assures her, looking at the screen and quickly typing down the number. Luckily, he knows it by heart. He could call Aunt May as well, but the chances are that Tony’s already having a search party out for him so it’s probably prudent to call for him first.

“ _Who is this and how did you get this number?”_ is the thing that Peter hears on the other side of the phone the moment Tony picks up. Relieved to hear his dad’s voice, Peter lets out a shaky laugh.

“Dad! It’s me, Peter! Karen’s not connected to the suit anymore so I couldn’t call you, but I’m fine!” Peter turns to the girl, who is waiting patiently with her arms crossed and her legs tapping the ground. Her eyes are averted, stuck to the street next to them. “What happened after the fight? Did they clean up so fast? How did you not find me?”

“ _Kid, is this some practical joke?”_ Tony returns on the other side. Peter stiffens a bit.

“What? No! Dad, come on, I don’t need another lesson, I get it, alright? I’ll allow you guys to take off the suit and then we’ll burn it or something, I don’t know. Just, are you at the tower?”

“ _Listen, kid, I don’t know who you are, but the Avengers haven’t been at the tower for at least a year. Everybody knows this. Now, if you don’t mind, I have actual work to do here.”_

Before Peter can even respond, the call is ended on Tony’s side. Peter’s mouth falls open in his surprise, and he lowers the phone, staring at it in disbelief. His _dad_ hung up on him? How is that even possible? Peter was just about sure that he’d get the scolding of a lifetime for not getting away when they told him to. Heck, he’d at least expected Steve at one point to grab the phone from Tony and give Peter a piece of his mind as well.

That would all have been better than this. Not being recognized by your own parent? Peter blinks twice before looking back up at the girl.

“I’m sorry, that didn’t work, can I try calling another number?” he asks. The girl shrugs, holding up her arms to indicate that he can do whatever he wants. Peter nods thankfully, typing down the number he knows by memory. This one takes a little bit longer before it’s picked up.

“ _This is May Parker,”_ comes on the other side of the line. Peter once again sags in relief.

“May! It’s me, Peter! I’m somewhere in Midtown and I’ve already tried calling Dad but I think there’s something wrong! Can you just tell everybody that I’m safe?”

There’s a moment of silence on the other side of the line, then some mumbled speaking, May telling something to the others, probably. There’s some shifting noises, cracking as if her phone is passed along to somebody else, and then there’s another voice.

A familiar voice, though one Peter hasn’t heard in years or so.

“ _Listen, who-ever this is, this isn’t funny. We would appreciate it if you wouldn’t call again in the future.”_ No further explanation, no more words said. The call is disconnected, and Peter can only hear some ringing in his ear. But, at the same time, he can’t move.

The girl seems to notice this. A little worried, she walks up to him, waving a hand in front of his eyes.

“Hello, are you alright?” she asks curiously.

Peter nods, though only vaguely aware of it. It can’t be possible. There’s no way that Uncle Ben could have just told him off for something Peter has no idea of. Uncle Ben’s dead, has been for years. How is this possible?

“Listen, dude, I need to go. I hope your ride gets here soon,” the girl continues. Peter shakes his head to clear his mind for a bit, nodding and handing the phone back.

“Yeah uh, thanks for letting me use this,” Peter mutters out, not really able to grasp what’s happening. The girl nods once before starting to walk off again. Meanwhile, Peter takes a good look around him, staring up in the sky in search for Stark Tower anywhere near.

It’s right there, booming where it’s supposed to be. But it looks different, it’s under construction. There’s nothing indicating it’s an Avengers-related building, or that Stark Industries still operates in it. It looks just like any other building now.

Peter shakes his head, starting his run and then shooting two webs to catapult himself up in the air. In a speed-tempo, he climbs up on the tower. He always hates doing that because it’s such a long climb, but with all these construction-things on it he can use his webs to sling himself upward a bit faster. By the time he’s on the balcony, he runs to the door.

“FRI, can you let me in?” he asks. There’s no answer. The penthouse is dark, so Peter presses his face against the window and tries to focus a bit.

It’s empty. There’s no furniture in there. In his surprise, Peter takes a few steps back, shaking his head in disbelief.

Has he been gone so long that the Avengers would have moved from the tower to somewhere else? Have they all forgotten him in a spell gone wrong? But then, what’s the deal with Uncle Ben?

Peter runs back off the balcony. He needs to check out the compound, then. Maybe there he can find out what’s going on, if the building’s still there at least. Last Peter can remember, SHIELD is still there trying to figure out what this meteor is about.

“HEY!” somebody shouts. Peter turns his head to the source of the sound, only to have a boot kicked in his face. Peter lets go of his web, smashing against a building and dropping down on the ground. Luckily, he wasn’t too high up, though the drop still hurts like hell.

Peter groans painfully, trying to push himself back on his feet. Who on Earth-?

“I don’t know how you came back, Venom, but this time I’ll make sure you’ll never see the light of day anymore,” somebody says, once again in a familiar voice. Before Peter can speak up, though, his spider-sense warns him on impending danger – so great that it worked so well _before_ he got knocked on the ground. Peter jumps out of the way, seeing a black-and-blue boot only just missing its target, that one being his face.

“Ho, what did I ever do to you?!” Peter calls out, holding his hands up in surrender. When he looks at the girl that just tried to attack him, he’s surprised at what he’s seeing.

It looks like another version of Spider-Man, but with different colors. The girl wears white and black, with dark pink web-patterns on her suit. Instead of just the mask, she’s also wearing a hood, making her appear even more mysterious. Peter huffs out a breath, confused by the sudden appearance.

“Stop acting so innocent! You’ve been running away the entire evening and I’m tired of it! Just give it up Venom,” the girl says angrily. Once again, Peter ducks away from her attack, keeping his hands up to indicate that he’s not going to fight back.

“I’m not Venom?” Peter calls out in confusion. What even is ‘venom’?

“Like _hell_ you aren’t! You might have fooled me once, but I’m not letting you take me over once again!”

Peter rolls to the ground to avoid another kick in the face. The impact on his shoulder is not pleasurable, but it beats the alternative. Then, seeing no other option, Peter pulls the mask off his head and throws it on the ground.

“Look! I don’t know who you think Venom is, but it’s not me, alright?” Peter calls out, putting his hands on his chest. “I’m-“

“Peter?!” the girl calls out. And it’s in that surprise that Peter realizes who he’s talking to. Because he was constantly almost being attacked, he didn’t stop to think about it. Just those few seconds of respite, his mind clicks in, his chest aching at the realization.

When the girl pulls off her mask, Peter isn’t surprised to see Gwen underneath it.

And it hurts. It hurts to freaking much to see her just standing there, alive, healthy, confused. And Peter can’t help it. He walks up to her, takes her face between his hands and kisses her right on her lips. She doesn’t refuse it, doesn’t push it away. Instead, she throws her arms over his shoulders, leaning into the kiss like her life depends on it.

She smells the same, kisses the same. Everything is the same. It’s like three years haven’t gone by since her death, but more like this is just right after their final fight with Harry, back on that clock-tower. The alternate fight Peter kept imagining in his mind where the Goblin hadn’t taken Gwen. Hadn’t killed her.

“Oh my God, Peter, I’ve missed you so much,” Gwen mutters against his lips. Peter shakes his head, tasting tears through their kiss. They’re his own tears, but also hers. He doesn’t care about them.

“I’ve been miserable for so long without you,” Peter admits as well, a bit breathless. Then, he finally pulls back a little, not getting out of her hold completely. That’s when Peter realizes his hands are still on her cheeks. She doesn’t seem to mind it, though. “But I don’t understand? I held you in my arms? I went to your funeral? How are you here?”

“How are _you_ here? I saw you die, Peter? Right after the Goblin threw you off that tower. I’ve spent the past four years blaming myself for it, I…” Her voice cracks in the emotion. Gwen lowers her head, pressing her brows against Peter’s shoulder. “After all these years, and I find myself still loving you,” she chuckles out sadly.

Peter can return that sentiment, but he shouldn’t indulge himself too much in this. Carefully, he pries himself loose from her, taking a step back and clearing his throat.

“It’s not that I’m not glad to see you, Gwen, but… this is all a little bit too strange,” Peter mutters out, looking back down at the suit. “I need to get to my Dad, have the guys find a way to get the suit off…”

“Your dad? But I thought your parents died?” Gwen asks in confusion. She leans down to take her mask back from the ground, keeping it in her hands as she looks at Peter in confusion.

“My biological dad, Tony Stark. I tried calling him but he seemed confused and hung up on me. And earlier I had Uncle Ben on the line, which isn’t possible, either.”

“Peter… Tony Stark doesn’t have children,” Gwen adds hastily. “And why wouldn’t it be possible to have your Uncle on the phone?”

Peter blinks, his head aching from all the confusion. “Because I saw him die? He got shot by a thief I didn’t stop out of pettiness. He died because of me…”

“Your Uncle never died, Peter. Though it was a close call. He got a heart-attack the day the police came to tell them you had died. It’s only lucky that he made it.”

Shit, Peter thinks that he’s starting to understand it. Thinking back to one of Strange’s lessons he once decided to give when Peter found himself at the Sanctum (he only had to deliver him something for crying out loud), Strange did say something about the multiverse. With other words…

“I’m in an alternate universe…” Peter mutters out, finally understanding what’s going on. This is a universe where Gwen got bit by the Spider – though how she didn’t die because of it, Peter has no idea. In this universe, Peter died at the tower. Because Peter died, Tony never found out about having a son. Tony didn’t keep Stark Tower and sold it much like he had thought about doing back in Peter’s world.

Because Peter never became Spider-Man, Uncle Ben never died.

Peter then turns to Gwen, pointing at his suit. “You called me Venom before. You were talking about the suit, weren’t you?”

Gwen nods, not looking at ease. “Yeah. I saw you creeping around a few hours ago and each time I almost got you, you’d run away. It’s been driving me insane. You don’t remember this?”

Peter shakes his head. “You’ve dealt with it before, then? How did you get rid of it?”

Gwen shrugs. “It was mostly accidental. It doesn’t like loud, high noises. Bells, metal tubes, whatever you can think of.”

Peter feels uneasy all of the sudden. His whole body feels itchy, nervous. He realizes it’s the suit resonating its fear on him.

“It doesn’t like fire, either,” Gwen adds. Peter closes his eyes, trying to shake the uncomfortable feeling off.

“Alright, I need to find my Dad,” he says after a few seconds. “In my world, I found out Tony Stark is my dad. That’s almost two years ago or so.”

But, first, Peter has somewhere he needs to go. And as he explains it to Gwen, she nods and agrees to come with him. Peter knows the way by heart, having lived there almost all of his life. Once he gets to the apartment, he crawls up the wall, right up to the floor he remembers being theirs.

And through the window, he can see them. Aunt May. Uncle Ben. They look tired, miserable, but alive.

“Are you going to tell them hello?” Gwen asks, and Peter hesitates for a bit. It could do great, to just have another talk with Ben, joke with him, learn some wise lessons from him. But… it would screw them up. They’ve built up some sort of peace, so it seems. They don’t seem happy, but they’re working back on it, they’re getting back on their feet, no matter how long it’ll take.

Peter showing up at their doorstep will just ruin all that progress. No, just _seeing_ his uncle alive for one moment longer is enough for him. The knowledge that he didn’t die here, that he’s healthy(-ish) and alive…

And Peter turns to look at Gwen, letting out a long breath.

“I’ve moved on,” Peter says, all of the sudden. Gwen turns her head towards him, looking at him while she waits for him to continue. “I almost didn’t, but… I figured you wouldn’t want me to stay stuck in the past, so I’ve moved on eventually.”

Gwen chuckles a bit, shaking her head and reaching out a hand towards his face. Then, cupping his cheek, Gwen leans forward, pressing their faces together. With their masks on, it’s not really a kiss, but it’s still kind of a fun feeling.

“I’ve moved on as well,” she admits. “It was hard, and I didn’t want to let you go, but there comes a point where you meet somebody and you think: ‘it’s time’.”

Peter nods, totally agreeing. But then he sighs sadly.

“I met somebody, too. It was MJ, I don’t know if you remember her from school?” Gwen nods. “We were together, not for that long, though. The suit kind of ruined it…”

Gwen nods in understanding. “I did some things with the suit that I regret doing as well. It’s out of your control, and that’s not your fault, Peter. I’m sure that, if you’ll explain, she’ll understand.”

“I’m not that sure… I actually cheated on her… and sure, I wasn’t all too aware of it, but it still happened…”

Gwen puts a hand on Peter’s shoulder and squeezes it. “Give it time,” she says. Then she turns towards the city. “We should get to your Dad, no?”

Peter nods, following Gwen back into the city. They’re going the exact way towards the Compound, so he figures it’s still standing. For a moment, he wonders what exactly Gwen is to the Avengers. Is she part of the team? Is she just a kid in their eyes? Is she, just like Peter, not allowed to fight along with them?

“Do Tony and Steve fight as much here as they do in my universe?” Peter asks jokingly the moment they get on the ground. Gwen frowns for a bit, but then sighs.

“I’m not sure how often they fight with you, but they are literally insufferable. I suppose Tony never really forgave Steve after that business in Siberia.”

“Wait, they aren’t together anymore?” Peter asks, confused. Gwen shakes her head.

“No, they are in your world?”

“Yeah, Steve’s like… like a father to me,” he explains. Gwen sighs, then.

“Well, I guess you are a big reason why they work so well together, then,” she offers. Peter quickly shakes his head.

“Hell no, they mostly fight because of me, lately… Though I guess now I can blame it on the suit.” Gwen chuckles, but nods back towards the compound.

“I’m actually rather surprised it’s so calm right now,” she admits. Peter looks down at the suit, only realizing it now, really. But he can feel it, somehow… In a way. He can’t explain how it’s possible.

“I can… sense it’s tired. The travel from my world to yours in combination with the constant chasing must have exhausted it.” Peter suggests. It’s possible, but there’s no way to prove it. They should at least be happy that the suit is behaving right now.

“Come on, let’s get you inside. We’ll explain everything to Tony and maybe he can help us getting you home.”

Peter nods as well, following after Gwen with hasty steps. The girl takes off her mask the moment she’s inside, so Peter figures the people here know about her. But they don’t come across anybody. No scientists, no Avengers. The building is practically empty.

“Everybody’s at home, it’s ten in the evening,” Gwen explains when she sees Peter look around in confusion. “And the Avengers are in the common room, I expect. But I’m sure we can find Tony in the lab.”

The closer they get to the lab, the more noise Peter can hear. Gwen must have been right about the Avengers being in the common room. Peter itches to go have a look, find out who’s there and who isn’t. But he’s not sure he can explain the story before every member starts shooting at him for wearing this ‘venom’-suit. No, that’s a thing to avoid.

Peter knows his way to the lab. Heck, he’s been an intern here, he knows the place from heart by now. Without needing Gwen to guide his way, Peter steps up to the door of the lab and waits for it to open. When it doesn’t, he frowns.

“You need to identify yourself, genius,” Gwen jokes, walking forward and pressing her wrist against some sort of screen. Then there’s a beeping sound, and the door finally open.

“Yeah, well, being the son of Tony Stark I don’t need to identify myself all the time,” Peter mutters. Gwen laughs again, but she doesn’t wait until Peter follows to get inside.

“Mr. Stark? It’s me, Gwen!” the girl says in greeting, walking inside what looks like an extremely messy version of the lab. Peter’s a bit surprised to see that it looks like many things have exploded in here, while in his world Tony keeps his workplace neat and organized. Maybe that’s because he’s sharing it with his son, or maybe…

Could it be that this Tony is not getting treatment for his depression?

Because, to be fair, this room _looks_ like it’s held by somebody who just doesn’t have the courage to go and clean it up.

“Is there something you need, Miss Stacey?” Peter hears Tony ask in the background. Peter’s head goes into his direction immediately. This Tony sounds exactly the same like Peter’s, if not a bit more exasperated. Without prompting, Peter walks up to him, taking off his mask at last.

“What do you know about interdimensional travel, sir?” Gwen asks, walking up to Tony’s desk and leaning against it with her arms crossed. Tony gives her a look, taking away his attention from his current project.

“I would say that’s more Strange’s area of expertise, Miss Stacey,” Tony says. That’s when he notices Peter standing there as well. He doesn’t startle, but he does frown. “I see Venom is back?”

Gwen shrugs. “Venom from another universe. This is Peter,” she says, introducing Peter at last. “He’s your-“

“Intern!” Peter shouts out, interrupting Gwen before she can say it. It’s instantly, a reflex, but one Peter doesn’t regret. When Gwen gives him a confused look, he shakes his head.

He can’t do it to this Tony. He holds up his ‘I’m fine-‘mask, but Peter has learned to read through it. He can see immediately that this Tony’s not doing fine. This is a Tony who still has alcohol on the table. A Tony who has this haunted look in his eyes, his shoulders sagged, his messy workspace… This is not a Tony that needs even more bad news.

If Peter would just introduce himself as Tony’s son from another universe, this Tony would look him up. Peter would be giving him hope that he’s not alone, make him happy that he has an heir – which Peter knows was an issue for Tony before he knew about Peter being his son. And when this Tony will then find out that his son is dead, that he died before he even got to meet him… Peter can not do that to this Tony.

But he can try something else. He can try and make him happy. Or at least happier.

“My intern? I don’t have interns,” Tony mutters out.

“Yeah, uh, in my universe you do, though I’m the only one,” Peter says, grinning widely. He knows it’s not that convincing a smile, but he tries. Tony just eyes him curiously before shrugging.

“How did you get here?” Tony then asks. Peter clears his throat.

“You and Steve were having an argument during a battle, you know, just a couple’s quarrel, nothing too serious. The bad guy didn’t like it and sent us somewhere. I… would like to get back now.”

“The other me and Steve, huh? I guess things are not that different, then…” Tony mutters out. Peter shakes his head, putting a hand on the desk. He needs to get Steve here, someway. He quickly turns to Gwen.

“Can you get Steve for me?” he asks in a whisper. She frowns, confused, but then shrugs and nods. Quietly, she starts walking off, leaving Peter behind with Tony. “Actually, Mr. Stark, you and Steve live together in my universe.”

Tony snorts. “Not difficult, since everybody lives here in this building,” Tony mutters out.

“No, I mean, you both live in the tower, together. He’s moved into the penthouse. You two are… happy? I don’t know, there are still arguments but…”

“Listen, kid, what’s your goal here, exactly?”

Peter closes his mouth, wondering exactly what his goal is.

"The argument between you and Steve is the thing that got me in here. And when I’m here, I hear that you two haven’t set things right after Siberia. That’s not how things are supposed to happen.”

“Then why did it happen this way?”

“Tony, what’s going on?” Gwen has returned with Steve, so it seems. Peter can see Tony tense up visibly upon hearing the Captain’s voice. The engineer turns his head back to his project, obviously refusing to look up at him.

“Why would you think there’s anything wrong, Rogers?” Tony asks, bitingly. Steve’s footsteps come closer, and when he sees Peter, his eyes almost close as he glares at him.

“Venom, how did you get back here?” Steve asks.

“This is Peter, Steve,” Gwen explains. “He’s from another universe, where they haven’t defeated Venom yet.”

Steve relaxes then for a bit. “Oh, I’m sorry, where are my manners? Steve Rogers.” Steve holds out his hand, and Peter takes it.

“I’m Peter,” he says. “I know this is going to sound weird and you’re both probably not going to believe me, but… I’m going to be your relationship therapist right now.”

“Our- what?” Steve asks, confused. Tony just huffs out a disbelieving laugh. “Tony and I aren’t together?”

“You aren’t anymore. But in my world, you are. You live together, you love each other. You’re a family, you have a son together,” Peter says. He’s not going to specify that _he’s_ the son they have. It’s never been official either, but it’s just… always kind of been like this. “But in my world, you two had help to get back together. My help.”

“Who’s this kid again?” Tony asks Gwen.

“My dead boyfriend from another universe,” she deadpans, obviously to cause a reaction from them. The two stiffen at her words, shutting their mouths in the sudden tension there’s going on. “In his world, he became Spider-Man, and I died. Here, I became Spider-Woman and _he_ died.”

“And I want the two of you to just listen to me,” Peter continues. “I just need honest answers, and I’ll tell you the exact same thing I told you in my universe.”

They’re both quiet, so Peter takes that as an indication that he can continue.

“I know things have been shit between the two of you,” he starts. He can see Steve opening his mouth to warn him about his language, but he stops him. “Tony, in my universe you told me everything that was bothering you. You told me about your insecurities, about your childhood. You told me about your guilt. Now, I don’t need you to start explaining everything to him, you didn’t in my universe. But you two just need to talk, start somewhere.”

Tony lowers his gaze. “Listen, kid, I…”

“TALK!” Peter finds himself shouting before he realizes it. “That’s always been your issue, it actually still kind of is right now in my universe. You two never talk, and whenever you’re arguing, you always just try to fix it with actions rather than with words!”

Neither of them says anything. This is going to be a bit harder than last time, there’s probably too many years past since Siberia.

“Steve, you love Tony, don’t you?” Peter asks. Steve clears his throat.

“I, uh…” he starts, probably wondering why a weird, hyper-active young-adult is trying to make him realize these kinds of things. “I still do, yes.”

“That’s all I need. And Tony, you love Steve, right? You try to pretend that you’re over it, that you don’t care about it. But I know you care, I know you miss him every day and every night. So be honest with yourself right now…”

Tony shakes his head. “This is ridiculous,” he mutters. “Okay now, kid, I’m not sure what you’re trying to achieve, here, but-“

“Do. You. Love. Steve?”

Tony falls quiet, eyes wide and mouth dropped open. He closes it quickly enough, clearing his throat and scratching through his hair.

“Okay, fine, yes,” he admits, obviously against his will.

“But if you do, why did you break up with me? Why did you sleep with me one moment, and then dump me the next?”

Yeah, that just stays uncomfortable no matter how many times Peter’s going to hear it. He starts taking a few steps back, realizing that this is the part where they started working it out themselves. He nods towards Gwen as well.

So Tony starts explaining Steve why he did what he did, and Steve keeps on asking him question after question. It’s obvious that the two of them haven’t really spoken in quite a long time. When they’ve taken enough distance, and he’s standing right next to Gwen, she bumps against him.

“Why didn’t you tell him you’re his son?” she asks, curiously. Peter shrugs.

“Their son is dead in this universe. I’m not going to break their hearts even more,” he admits. “I suppose we should get to Strange, get me back to my own world, huh?”

Gwen looks at him sadly, but nods. “I guess we should,” she says. She leans forward and captures his lips once again, shortly. “I’m glad I got to see you again, even if it was just for such a short time.”

Peter nods.

“Just, when you get back… get rid of the suit as quickly as possible. Destroy it, imprison it, I don’t care. Just… don’t let it control you like it did me.”

Peter nods again. “I wasn’t planning on keeping it for much longer,” he says. The argument next to them dies down a little bit, Steve once again assuring Tony that he’s in fact not an abuser. It took him a while to get that thought out of his head, but Peter’s confident that this Tony can manage that just fine as well.

“I’ll make sure to keep an eye on these two,” Gwen assures him then, nodding towards the two next to them. “I’ll guide them back together.”

Peter smiles, moving forward and wrapping his arms around Gwen.

“I love you” he says then. “I’ll always love you.”

Gwen chuckles, patting Peter on the back. “I love you, too.”  They pull apart, and hand in hand they start walking towards the door of the workshop.

And that’s when the portal re-appears. It’s the same bright white light, the same force pulling him back inside, but seemingly only him. Gwen seems unaffected by it.

“PETER, IF YOU’RE THERE, HURRY BACK! STRANGE CAN’T KEEP THE PORTAL OPEN FOR MUCH LONGER!”

That’s Natasha. _His_ Natasha. Peter smiles. They must have found a way back for him. Peter turns back to Gwen and kisses her one last time.

“Goodbye,” he tells her, with their foreheads pressed together.

“Go,” she tells him, tears in her eyes. Peter nods, slowly letting go of her hands as he walks back into the light.  


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm quite happy, I saw a baby be born today! Oh joy!  
> I realize that, with my internship, it's possible that I might not get this done until the 25th, but I'll try my best for the American release date! Sadly, I won't be able to see the movie when it comes out, but hopefully upcoming saturday I'll see it!   
> Chapter warnings:  
> \- none really, again

There’s a warmth next to him. A body, breathing making Tony’s arm go up and down as he lies there with his eyes closed.

 _It’s seven-eleven in the morning, weather forecast indicates a sunny day with little chances of rain._ His mind does the whole greet-up much like JARVIS used to do back in Malibu.

It’s been a while since he’s had a good morning lie-in. Last time he woke up next to Steve… heck, he can’t even remember it. Living together, that’s not really a thing you think about; when will it be the last time?

The person next to him shifts. Tony doesn’t yet open his eyes. He needs some more sleep before he faces the day. He has no idea what exactly happened since yesterday; why is he lying in bed next to Steve when yesterday Steve was still in New Asgard? He lets out a long breath, not wanting to deal with it just yet.

Next to him, there’s more shifting. That’s when Tony opens his eyes. Because the shifting comes from behind him.

Sitting up in the bed, Tony realizes he’s naked. He’s not in the penthouse, but in what seems like a hotel room. Clothes are scattered on the ground, accompanied by multiple bottles of… wine? Tony can’t tell from where he’s currently seated.

The two persons next to him are women. Models, by the looks of it. They’re skinny, sun-tanned, and also naked. Extremely naked.

Shit, what happened yesterday? Tony raises his hand to his head and scratches through his hair. Gently, he shuffles out of the bed without waking the girls. He’s good at that, having had practice for years. Carefully, he picks up what looks like his clothes (though they’re pieces he’s never really worn before) and hurries into the bathroom.

He feels tired. Or rather, his whole body does. Tony walks up to the sink, leaning a bit forward while taking his reflection in. The man looking back at him looks exactly like Tony feels, which is horrible. Despite that, his goatee is still perfectly trimmed. Heck, his hair even seems longer than Tony can remember it?

Quickly, Tony gets dressed, hurrying out of the hotel room without bothering to be quiet anymore. If he wakes up those girls, he doesn’t particularly care.

“FRI, what’s going on?” Tony whispers out, not wanting to attract attention to himself. Especially in the hallways of a hotel, where a couple of the guests are also making their way to the elevator.

His mind has only one thing to tell him. _AI disconnected, not available._

Fuck, shit, crap. This isn’t what he needs. Tony hurries into the elevator and keeps his head down. Finding a pair of sunglasses in his inner pocket of the jacket, he quickly fishes it out and puts it on.

Nobody talks to him. Tony’s glad they’re all respecting his privacy. The moment the elevator comes down, Tony hurries to the entrance of the building.

“Ah, Mr. Stark!”

Shit. Tony freezes on the spot, turning around slightly to find who called for him. Coming closer is a young man with a camera in his hands. A reporter, it seems.

“I’m Anthony McGee from the Daily Bugle, is it possible for me to ask you some questions, sir?”

Tony looks back at the entrance, about ready to tell the kid to beat it because he’s in a hurry. But, the guy’s also just doing his job, and besides, he asked nicely. Most of the other reporters would have had their camera taking a picture before even asking.

“Yeah, sure,” Tony says, then, shaking his shoulders a bit to loosen them up. “What do you want to know?”

“Right, uh,” the kid mumbles out, taking his audio-recorder into his hands and pointing it at his own mouth. “Mr. Stark. Yesterday, the Avengers have once again finished another battle against yet another deranged mad scientist. What is your comment on this battle?”

“Yeah, uh, I’m not really the leader of the group, that’s something we mostly leave for Steve,” Tony says. He can remember going to battle yesterday. There was an argument, Peter was there, and so was Steve. But Tony can’t remember they were fighting against a scientist? Jesus, he needs to find out what’s going on.

“With Steve you mean Captain America, then?” the boy asks. Tony frowns, putting his hands in the pockets of his jacket while he shifts a bit uncomfortably.

“Well, uh, yeah. What other Steve have I been associated with lately?” Tony jokes out. Couple of the year, bitches! Even though they’ve not really been acting like it for the past month or so.

“Are you saying that you’re in friendly relations with Captain Rogers, then?” the boy adds on. Now Tony’s completely confused.

“Uh, I sure hope so, since we’ve been in a relationship for the past year or so,” Tony explains. He wonders why the kid looks at him like he just gave him the biggest news in the world. That’s nothing new, isn’t it? The whole world already knows about this.

“Mr. Stark, is your wife aware of this relationship?”

“My, uh… my wife?” Tony asks, now not following anymore at all. “Listen, man, I gotta run, I’m sorry.”

It’s not really true, but all these questions are already piling up, and Tony has no idea what he’s supposed to do with them. He quickly waves at the boy before running out of the building. There, the moment he’s into the open air, he lets the suit surround him and takes flight. A couple of people notice him flying up, pointing at him. Tony doesn’t stick around to wave at them.

He hurries towards the tower, finding it standing there in its usual glory. His head’s already pretty much in overdrive, but without his connection to FRIDAY, he feels like he can’t calm it down. He needs to get to his lab right now, fix this shit, and then find out what he was doing with two random women in a hotel room. Feeling like he needs to prepare a very good apology for Steve, Tony thinks he should better just prepare to be dumped soon enough.

“FRI, I know you might have missed me, but I need you to try and rebuild your connection with the nanites,” Tony says the moment he gets into the penthouse. There’s no answer, though. Instantly, Tony fears somebody might have hacked her.

That is, until he walks on something. Looking down to see what’s under his foot, he finds, much to his surprise, that the whole floor is covered with toys. Plushies, squeaking things, Barbie dolls. Tony leans forward and takes one of the dolls into his hands.

“Who on Earth-?” Tony mutters to himself, turning the doll around but not at all remembering how it could possibly get here. Unless… was he somehow brought into the future? Or did he lose his memory? He’s not exactly sure.

“Daddy, you’re back!” a high-pitched voice calls out. There are little footsteps, and suddenly small arms wrapped around him. Tony looks down, finding a nine-year-old-looking girl hugging him with a happy smile on her face.

“Uhm,” Tony starts, not exactly sure what she’s talking about. He’s never seen this girl before in his life.

“Oh, hurray, _dad’s_ back,” another, lower though familiar voice calls out. Tony looks back up, suddenly excited to see Peter walk inside with his backpack hanging over his shoulder. But, there’s something different about Peter. Tony notices it in the way he walks, and the way he talks. Peter looks uninterested, his hair longer and sluggish. He’s smaller, less muscular.

“Uh, heya Petey,” Tony greets his son, glad to see at least one familiar figure in the tower. Then, much to his surprise, he’s followed by another teenager. This second boy looks a few years younger than Peter.

“What, no greeting for the middle-child?” Peter mutters out when Tony finds himself speechless. Unable to get to an answer, Tony is frozen in place, with a kid still hugging him and two teenagers giving him a murderous look.

“Uh, hey guys,” Tony then greets them. “You guys heading somewhere?”

Peter gives Tony an unimpressed look. Meanwhile, the girl lets go of Tony and runs towards what Tony figures are her two brothers.

“Yeah, it’s called school,” Peter mutters out. “Jesus, how much did you even drink last night?”

Tony shakes his head. “I don’t drink anymore,” he says, knowing exactly why that’s such a bad idea. Peter, though, gives him a disbelieving look.

“Yeah, right. You can lie to yourself, man, but don’t lie to us,” the kid responds.

“I don’t-“ Tony starts, but he doesn’t finish that sentence. He takes in the kids in front of him. The girl with her hair neatly put up, wearing a dark blue vest with a white shirt underneath, accompanied by a knee-length skirt. On her chest, there’s a symbol, some sort of crest. A short look at Peter and the other boy, he realizes they’re wearing the same kind of thing. “Are those school uniforms?”

Peter rolls his eyes. The other kid snorts, but doesn’t speak as he sits down at the breakfast table. Carefully, Peter takes a hold of the girl’s arms, pulling her loose from Tony to get her to eat breakfast. She, in turn, grabs Tony’s hand and pulls him along.

“I wanna eat with Dad,” she calls out. Tony can hear Peter sigh, and somehow it breaks his heart. What the hell happened? Who are these other two kids? Why is Peter dressed in a high school uniform?

“ANTHONY EDWARD STARK!” somebody shouts in the background. Tony flinches upon hearing it, not used to having his full name spoken out in such a manner. Normally, it meant that he got trouble from his own Dad.

The girl lets go of his hand. Peter, in the background, snorts.

“You’re going to get it now,” he mutters. Tony turns around, clearing his throat, and waits for the woman who called after him to show herself.

“Hello?” he asks the moment he sees the first bit of brown hair show up. Appearing there, is a woman about Tony’s age, though with no bit of grey to find on her head. She’s dressed smartly, like she’s at the verge of going to a meeting or something. Though, the most striking thing is her face.

“Mary?!” he asks. Something in his chest tightens at the idea that she’s standing right in front of him. He can remember extremely well the last time he ever spoke to her before she died. It was that drunken conversation, that moment where she had told him she and Richard are done. It had been then that Tony decided to finally make his move.

The move that gave him the greatest gift of them all. Sadly, though, at the expense of the woman he loved.

“ARE YOU EVEN IN YOUR RIGHT MIND?!”

Oh, and the woman he used to love is pissed right now, for some reason.

“Listen, whatever I did, I’m pretty sure I can explain?” Tony tries to defend himself. While his brain is processing all the changes that are happening today, he can only come to one conclusion; the battle against that Mordo-guy brought him somewhere he shouldn’t be. It’s pretty much a miracle that Tony didn’t have a full-out panic attack the moment he came here. He’s not at all keen of interdimensional travel.

“You can explain?!” Mary snaps, pulling up her phone and pointing it at Tony, where he can see a picture of himself above an article. The title says: ‘TONY STARK CONFESSES TO DATING CAPTAIN AMERICA’. “How can you explain this?! Now the whole world will butt their noses into our marriage even more! How can we keep on pretending to be a happy couple with this, Tony?”

“But… why are we pretending?” Tony wonders. Mary huffs out a breath, clearly disbelieving. Tony just wishes they wouldn’t be arguing about this in front of the kids. He takes a quick look behind him, finding the girl crying against her older brother, while Peter is just glaring at the two of them. The middle-son ignores it all.

“It was your stupid idea to pretend we’re happy, Tony! You didn’t want to smudge your name with a divorce!”

“I, uh…” Tony is speechless. When did they get married? Is it after Mary fell pregnant with Peter? But, Tony really loved her back then… so, was their relationship doomed to fail like this anyway? Was there never any hope for them? Mary must have known that, somehow. She must have known they wouldn’t be happy.

And look at this Peter, here. It’s rather obvious the kid hates him. It’s obvious the kid hates his mother, too. Peter looks like the only reason he’s still staying is because of his siblings.

“If you don’t fix this _immediately_ , I’m bringing up those divorce papers, Tony, and I’m not kidding this time. I’ve had enough.”

Tony takes a deep breath, wondering what kind of person this Tony actually is. Would he mind if Tony were to meddle in his business?

He probably shouldn’t. Tony keeps his mouth shut, watching her walk off again with a great tension still in the air. Behind him, the kids get up from their seats and start heading to the door.

“We’re off to school,” the girl says cheerfully, waving at Tony before Peter pulls her through the door. Tony barely even has time to wave back, too confused about everything that’s happened so far.

“JARVIS, where’s my lab currently located?” Tony then asks the moment the doors are closed.

“ _It is still on the floor underneath this one, sir. It has not changed since you left it yesterday.”_

“Right, thanks J,” Peter mutters, feeling nostalgic as he hears JARVIS’ voice again. He’s so used to it belonging to Vision now, that it’s a bit confusing.

So Tony goes downstairs, gets to the lab and starts to get to work. JARVIS informs him of a few incoming calls, but Tony dismisses them all. He doesn’t stop until he gets JARVIS completely connected to the nanites, hearing his familiar and comforting voice inside his head.

About five hours have passed since then. Tony leans back in his chair, putting his feet on his desk and closing his eyes.

“Alright, now give me everything about this world,” he mutters out. In front of his closed eyes, the overflow of information comes. He could have done this without the AI, but clearly Tony has his priorities straight.

So, he learns that he and Mary got indeed married by the time she turned out pregnant with Peter. They hadn’t even dated, just decided to get hitched to avoid bad press. In the eye of the public, they appear like the perfect, loving couple with three adorable children: Peter Howard Stark, Thomas Patrick Stark and Natalee Maria Stark. Natalee… of course he would name his only daughter after Natasha’s alter-ego from his childhood.

But what the news can’t give him are the inside details of that family. And so, JARVIS fills up the gaps. Like this, Tony learns that about two years into their marriage they started to fall out of love. They tried to fix it by having another child, which worked for a short while. Natalee joining them was more of a surprise. The two of them haven’t even slept together since Natalee’s birth. Instead, JARVIS tells him that they came to an agreement; they can sleep with who-ever they want, as long as it’s out of the eye of the public. Tony Stark from this universe really didn’t want to get divorced.

Mary brought up the divorce papers a little bit after Natalee was born. Tony always refused.

When Tony asks JARVIS why it seems like his two sons hate him, he doesn’t really like the answer.

According to his AI, Tony’s often working in the workshop. And at first, Peter liked to join him, until he showed more interest in Mary’s field of work rather than Tony’s. The same thing goes for Thomas, who, in fact, doesn’t want anything to do with science at all. Then, with Tony mostly just working, it turns out he never really makes much time for his children. Natalee’s still innocent enough at eight years to still be happy to see him whenever she can. Thomas, who’s thirteen, and Peter, who’s fifteen, both grew out of that phase and have grown to dislike him.

Man, this Tony’s life must really suck… Tony _really_ needs to get out of here, but now he realizes he can’t just leave like that. He kind of broke up the guy’s marriage, at least even more than it already was. Kind of announced to the whole world that he’s in a relationship with Captain America, which he doesn’t even know if it’s true…

“J, what’s the deal on Iron Man in here?” Tony then asks.

“ _There have been no reports of an Iron Man in the past,”_ JARVIS explains. Tony sighs. He should have known, there’s nothing in the workshop indicating anything related to the Avengers, after all.

“Then, let’s introduce the world to him, shall we?”

It’s not that he wants the world to know about Iron Man. It’s more that he needs to get to the Avengers’ base – where-ever that is. He needs to see where they stand, and if they could possibly want to help him out. Or rather… he needs to find Strange.

And he wants to see Steve.

_The current Avengers-Team contains: Captain America, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Falcon, Ant-Man and Wasp._

Okay, so not exactly like Tony’s team. He knows the Ant-Man and Wasp are only part of the team here because Tony obviously isn’t.

Tony follows JARVIS’ instructions to the base. It’s not the compound, but it is some kind of facility. It looks nothing like Tony’s base, but it seems… nice, in a way. For people who don’t have as much money, that is.

Tony lands in front of the building. Pulling back the suit, he starts walking forward to get to the door.

“ _Sir, I feel like I must inform you about the Avengers and your relationship with them,”_ JARVIS suddenly says. Tony is just ready to listen what he want to tell him when suddenly the doors burst open.

“YOU!” James Barnes shouts angrily, running up to Tony with a murderous look on his face. Tony takes a few steps back, holding his hands up in the air to indicate that he doesn’t want to fight. It doesn’t seem to stop Barnes, who’s quickly chased by Natasha and Steve. “ARE YOU COMPLETELY STUPID?!” 

“Uh, I come in peace?” Tony asks. He figures he’s not that much in a friendly relation with these guys.

“YOU TELL THE WHOLE WORLD YOU’RE IN A RELATIONSHIP WITH STEVE? YOU’RE MARRIED! HE’S MARRIED!”

Steve’s married? Tony’s eyes quickly turn to the man in question, finding that Steve is clearly avoiding looking at him.

“Buck, don’t-“

“No Steve! Stop defending the ass all the time! He’s done nothing but make everything harder for us all the time!”

“Listen I’m sorry for whatever I did in the past, but I came here to ask for your help,” Tony quickly throws in, keeping his hands up. Barnes finally stops struggling against his teammates, the three of them looking at Tony with wide eyes.

“You come asking for help?” Natasha asks in disbelief, letting go of Barnes and walking forward. She looks menacing, so Tony prepares himself. “After all you’ve done, you want us to just help you?”

“No, but you see, that wasn’t _me_ , that was the me from this universe, I came-“

“Keep it, Stark,” Natasha hisses at him. “I’m about _this_ close to punch you right in the face, so don’t tempt me further.”

“But Nat, I-“

There’s a fist in his face. Tony accidentally bites his tongue in the progress, tasting blood in his mouth. With a grunt, he falls down on his knees. There are spots dancing in front of his eyes, so he waits until they disappear before he gets back on his feet.

“Nat, c’mon. It’s not worth it,” he hears Steve say in the background. It strikes him straight in the chest, hearing _him_ say that Tony’s not worth it. It feels like multiple stabbings, hitting him right in the heart. Carefully, he looks up, his eyes finally meeting Steve’s.

Shit… he really misses his own Steve. He shouldn’t have started an argument with him yesterday. Shouldn’t have shouted at him. Shouldn’t have been an ass. Tony sobs unknowingly, his entire body aching at the idea that _his_ Steve is somewhere Tony has no idea of. Is he still on Earth? Was he sucked through another portal as well? Heck, was Peter, too? They were standing rather close together, but this Peter’s obviously not his. This Steve isn’t either.

“Shit,” he mutters out, rubbing his chest as usual. Carefully, he gets back on his feet. The three Avengers have already disappeared again. He needs another approach. Needs to avoid confronting Barnes and Natasha.

He needs to go for Steve, himself.

Tony decides to wait. Letting the suit surround him again, he gets back into the air. He could just search out Strange, see if he can talk to him already. Then, after fixing this universe – he can’t leave it the way it is right now – Tony will ask Strange to send him back. If he can, that is… If not… he needs to build something.

But there aren’t any reports on Strange as a sorcerer. According to the internet, his accident hasn’t happened yet. He’s still a surgeon in the hospital. Has no knowledge of the multiverses and whatever else. Tony’s pretty much stuck…

He goes to the tower, where he’s avoided by his sons the moment they get home. Natalee, apparently, is at a friend’s house. Tony doesn’t mind too much. He hides away in his workshop, gets informed about his ‘wife’ coming back home, gets news about dinner being put up. Gets the news about the kids heading to bed. Tony doesn’t pay too much attention to it – he barely hears it.

Because, to be fair, he has no clue how to even begin on making something that could make him travel through dimensions. How does one go from point A to an alternate point B without getting the help from a certain sorcerer supreme who is in fact an expert on these kind of things.

“ _Sir, may I inquire as to why you have become so interested in interdimensional travel?”_ JARVIS asks at one point. Tony passes a hand over his face, letting out a long breath.

“Because, dear J, as much as I miss you, I really need to get home and fix my own family,” Tony explains. “And that means apologizing to Peter and Steve, and get my shit together.”

JARVIS stays quiet, which is fine enough. Tony scrapes his chair back, needing to stretch his legs. He takes a few steps towards the refrigerator where he takes out a bottle of water. He doesn’t tempt himself with the beer, knowing that if he starts again, he’s not going to be able to stop. He’s worked too hard, had too many therapy, to just start again like that.

“ _Sir, Captain Rogers is requesting entrance to the building.”_

Tony turns around, his bottle dropping on the floor before he even gets to open it. In his confusion, Dum-E rolls up his way and picks it back up, poking Tony in the side with it.

“Uh, let him up,” Tony says quickly. Alternate Steve, here? What does he want? Do they actually get along, perhaps?

“ _The Captain is on his way up,”_ JARVIS then informs him. Tony looks down at Dum-E, who is still poking him. Then, taking the bottle from him, he gives him a light pat on the head.

“Good boy,” Tony mutters. “Now let’s find out what Mr. Model wants from us, shall we?”

Tony sits back down on the chair, leaning forward a bit as he tries to appear busy. He doesn’t want Steve to see him actually anticipating his arrival.

“Stark,” is the first thing Steve says when the doors slide open. Tony doesn’t startle from it, already aware of how Steve used to make his entrance back in the day.

“Is there something you need, or…?” Tony asks. He’s extremely aware of Steve coming to stand behind him, looking over his shoulders to find out what he’s working on.

“Interdimensional travel? That sounds extremely dangerous, as in shit we have to clean up afterwards-dangerous,” Steve mutters. Tony smirks.

“Oh, how I love to hear you say ‘shit’,” Tony mutters before he can think of it. “Uh, I mean, I don’t really think it’s any of your business, isn’t it?”

“It is if you’re going to create another portal from one planet to another,” Steve mutters with his arms crossed, eyes giving Tony an unimpressed look.

“Lighten up, lover-boy,” Tony calls out, patting him once on the stomach, much to Steve’s surprise. “This is not to let people in, it’s just to get me out.”

“What, you’re so tired of your life that you want out of it? There are other ways to do that.”

Tony turns around, giving Steve a smirk, actually impressed. “Did you just make a suicide-joke? I didn’t think you had it in you, dear.”

“About that, it’s actually why I’m here,” Steve admits. With his arms still crossed, he takes a few steps until he’s leaning against the window, eyes not letting go of Tony’s. He looks serious, but in all honesty he almost always does. It’s not often that Tony catches him in a joking mood. Or, at least, in the beginning of their friendship. “You told that reporter we’re together.”

“Yes, I did,” Tony mutters.

“Why?”

“Because…” Tony sighs, putting a hand on his forehead while he thinks about how he’s going to explain it. If anything, Steve likes the story straight, no jokes, no excessive details. “Because we are where I’m from.”

“Where you’re from?”

“You know… that alternate universe I’m trying to get back to? Only for me this is the alternate universe, and you’re the alternate Steve, who is apparently marr- who the hell did you even get married to?”

Steve shrugs. “Sharon,” he says shortly. Had Tony been drinking, he would have spat it back out on Steve’s complete form.

“Sharon, my little cousin Sharon?! Sharon Carter?!”

“Yeah, your cousin. Which is why I need to know what you’re currently playing at, here?”

Tony finally gets up, walking up to Steve, who takes a step to the side the closer Tony gets.

“Steve… you’re not… out, yet, are you?” he asks hesitantly.

“Out, how?” the guy asks.

“You know, gay and proud? I mean, sure, it took a little while for you to be open about it in my world, but… you got married, Steve? Does Sharon even know that you are-“

“I’m not gay,” Steve defends himself almost too quickly. Tony shakes his head.

“Oh, Steve, I’m so sorry…”

“Sorry for what?”

“That you’re still dealing with this! Really, the world doesn’t care that you’re into men, dear. They didn’t care in my world – okay, yeah, maybe a few people cared, but the majority loves us.”

“Listen, Stark, I have no idea what you’re talking about here,” Steve starts. Tony closes his eyes, trying to connect his mind to the screens around him. Then, he uploads the first file he can find on them. It’s that interview, the one with the ever-so-lovely Christine Everheart. The article appears on the screen, easy enough for Steve to read.

So, yeah, maybe Tony might have a little collection of his relationship with Steve stashed somewhere in his hard-drive. It’s actually quite lucky that the back-up is stored in his mind as well.

“I don’t-“

“I need you to believe me, Steve,” Tony begs. Instead of talking more, he puts up all the other stuff he can find. Video footage of them at the gala, an interview with the Avengers, taken when Iron Man rejoined the team again officially. The footage of the aftermath of the (second) infinity war…

Tony can see that he’s making Steve speechless, but he needs the guy to understand. Needs Steve to believe him, make sure Steve knows he’s not crazy.

When he sees Steve turn back to him with eyes open wide, his breath seems to catch. Lifting up his hand towards his head, Steve hesitantly scratches his hair.

“You, uh… you have a robot suit?” Steve asks in confusion. Tony raises an eyebrow, unbelieving that this is the first thing Steve would ask.

Just to prove it, Tony brings up the suit, letting it surround him just as easily as lifting up his foot. Steve lets out a gasp and takes a step back.

“Who- who are you?” he asks, then. Tony sighs, taking a few steps forward and putting his hands on Steve’s shoulders.

“I’m Iron Man. And I need your help.”


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, no chapter warnings! :-)  
> Let me know what you think!

“So, uh… how did you and Sharon ever get married?”

Steve gives Tony a long, confused look.

“You just told me you came here from another universe, one where the two of us are actually in a _relationship_ , and the first thing you think of asking me is how me and my wife got together?!”

Tony shrugs. “I’m not sure how I got married here,” Tony says, lifting up his hand and seeing the wedding ring missing. He’s not sure he even saw Mary wearing one. “Other me got married to the first girl I loved. She was actually in a relationship, but we had a drunken night where I knocked her up. In my universe, she never left her guy and married him. Here, though, it seems like she made the wrong choice.”

“If you got her pregnant, why is it the wrong choice to get married?” Steve asks in confusion. Tony shrugs again.

“Because it seems like a lot of things that should have happened _haven’t_ , meaning that my kid hates me, here. That, and I’m not a part of the Avengers…”

“Right, because in your world you _are_ part of the Avengers…” Steve acknowledges, having read it before in Tony’s files. “You got kidnapped, built yourself a super-suit and broke yourself free… When did we meet, then?”

“In 2012, with Loki,” Tony continues. Steve nods.

“Right, that guy,” Steve complains.

“Wait, how did you guys deal with the nuke?”

“The nuke?”

“Yeah, you know, the one the government shot in the air to destroy the city? To stop the invasion?”

“Ah, right… uh, I’m not sure, I think Thor had something to do with it? We haven’t really seen him since then so it’s kind of unclear.”

“Right…”

So, all in all, it seems like the Avengers work out pretty well without him. Good to know. Except not really. It’s not good to know at all.

“Well, uh… okay… so will you tell me the deal between you and my cousin, now? I mean, I know she was crushing on you pretty hard in my world, but that never really became a thing…?”

Steve then throws him an unimpressed look. “I met her at SHIELD. We dated for two years, then we got married. End of the story.”

“But… how can you do this to her?” Tony asks, then.

“How can I do what?”

“Lead her on like that?”

Steve frowns, pointing a finger up at him. “Listen up, Stark, I don’t think _you_ should lecture me about healthy marriages. After all, isn’t yours pretty much breaking apart right now?”

“What do you mean?”

Steve directs his fingers to a couple of papers on the desk next to him. Papers Tony hasn’t even noticed yet. He quickly stands up and reaches out for them, giving them a short look.

They’re divorce-papers, he comes to realize. Looking down, he can see that one party has already signed. All there’s still needed is Tony’s own signature. And the urge to sign is strong, extremely strong. But he can’t do that to somebody’s marriage. He doesn’t know this Tony, doesn’t know his reasons for doing what he’s doing.

“Now, instead of asking me all these personal questions, just tell me what you need my help with.”

Tony scrapes his throat, scratching the back of his neck after putting the papers down again. It’s then that he finally notices Steve’s wedding ring, golden and round, decorating Steve’s finger. It’s disturbing in many ways, yet Tony can’t seem to keep his eyes off it.

Is it possible that Steve is actually happy with her? Maybe even happier than he could be with Tony?

“Stark?”

Tony shakes his head. Right, the guy asked him a question. “Uh, I need everything SHIELD has on the Tesseract.”

Steve frowns. He doesn’t like that answer. “Why? So you could make a weapon out of it?” he asks.

“No, because it can create interdimensional portals, which is exactly what I need to get back home to my family.” Tony barely realizes he’s talking a bit too loud. Awkwardly, he lets out a short cough. “I don’t need the power of the stone. I don’t need it as a weapon. I just need the numbers and stuff…”

Steve still has his arms crossed. “Well, I can’t let you into SHIELD just like that. Everybody pretty much hates you in there.”

“Why, though?” Tony finds himself asking. “What did I do? Or, what did the other me do?”

“Other than constantly suing us for destruction of your property and slandering the entire organization? The constant boycotting and insulting? Nothing much, really.”

Oh, this Steve’s a real smart-ass. Tony kind of likes it, if only it wouldn’t be used in such a negative way towards him.

“Right, I get it, the other me is an ass. I guess being kidnapped and held captive in a cave, forced to build weapons, was at least good for something…” Tony snaps. He’s a bit tired at the accusations he keeps on getting. It’s not _his_ fault that the other Tony is such an ass.

Steve sighs next to him. “Right, I’m sorry,” he mutters, rubbing his forehead. “Normally, Stark and I get into each other’s hairs in just a matter of minutes… I guess it’s just a reflex.”

Tony smirks. “We used to argue all the time, as well. I’m not sure when exactly we turned from that into friends.”

“Listen, I can’t get you into SHIELD. You’re too recognizable.” Steve rubs his forehead again while he tries to think. “But… we could use Iron Man, perhaps.”

“The suit?” Tony asks in confusion.

“I can bring you along as a potential Avenger, introduce you to the team, to Fury… And then we can look for the files you’re looking for, I’m sure they’re not too hard to find.”

“I’m sure they aren’t. I’ve hacked into SHIELD once, I can probably do it even faster now,” Tony says with a smirk. Then he points at his head. “My head’s like a computer. I’m connected to everything in this building.”

“How did you do that?”

Tony shrugs. “Something I’m pretty sure the other you is going to have my head for, but what’s done is done, right?”

Steve doesn’t look that convinced, but then he sighs again. “Just take out the suit, and we’ll fly up to the Helicarrier.”

“The Helicarrier? Is that piece of junk still operative?”

“Why wouldn’t it be?”

“I’m not sure, they’re just not using it anymore since SHIELD fell, though we’re not really a part of SHIELD anymore, anyway.”

Steve doesn’t respond to it. He waits for Tony to suit up at last. When he finally does, his first instinct is to reach out a hand and touch it. When he catches himself doing so, he quickly pulls back, clearing his throat.

“Uhm, we should get going, then.”

“Right.”

 

* * *

 

 

Never in his life would Tony have thought a flight with Steve could be awkward. Yet, here he finds himself, holding Steve in his usual grip and only getting a stiff hand around his shoulder in return. This is not his Steve. This guy is not used to being flown around the way _his_ Steve is.

 The Helicarrier looks different than how Tony last remembers it. There are still multiple quinjets on the landing deck, but there’s a whole lot less people walking around on it. There seems to be no immediate threat, Tony figures.

“Hey, Steve, who’s the robot?” somebody asks behind them. They turn around, finding an unfamiliar person behind him.

“Oh, hey Daisy,” Steve says, not at all appearing nervous. He’s a good actor, Tony figures. “This is, uh… Iron Man? Yeah, I just found him stopping some crimes on the streets and I figured he could be a help.” Steve shrugs. Tony keeps his lips tightly sealed, afraid that people could recognize his voice. He shortly closes his eyes, focusing on his suit. Change the voice modulator, make it sound more metallic. Avoid being recognized.

“Really, huh? How are you sure he’s not playing you?” the girl, Daisy asks, jokingly. She walks up to him, observing the suit with lots of interest in her eyes. “What do you look like underneath the suit?”

“He can’t show you!” Steve shouts in panic. Daisy, who had been reaching her hand towards Tony, pulls her arm back as if she was about to be burned. Confused, she looks back at Cap in search for an answer. “The, uh… the suit keeps him alive. He’s immune-system is weak, and taking it off could kill him!”

Tony must say he’s quite impressed, really.

“Wow, uh, okay. Where did you get this, then?” she asks. “Did you make this yourself?”

“Y-es?” Tony tries. Steve nods at him before reaching an arm towards him and pulling him along a bit.

“I was going to show him around a bit, introduce him to Fury and whatnot,” Steve mutters out. “But I’ll catch you later?”

“Yeah, sure! Oh, and your wife’s inside, she’ll want to see you! Looks like that Stark dicked you over again, didn’t he?”

Steve chuckles nervously. “Yeah, I guess he did,” he mutters out. Tony snickers behind the suit, letting out a little gasp of surprise when Steve yanks at his arm to make him stop.

He quickly waves at Daisy, who holds her thumb up towards him for good luck. After that, she disappears as the door closes behind him. Steve glares at him shortly before continuing through the hallway.

“What did I do?” Tony asks. Steve just rolls his eyes, getting into the elevator that will bring them down. Tony doesn’t get an answer, but he doesn’t go looking for it. In all honesty, he’s feeling a bit nervous about who he’s going to come across. Given the reaction of the other Avengers, he doesn’t really think he’s very loved in here.

There’s a long silence in the elevator. Tony has a strong urge to bring up a casual conversation, get Steve to talk, but he knows he’s already pretty much on thin ice here. For no obvious reason, Steve is helping him out here. He shouldn’t push his luck.

The elevator doors open. There’s the sound of two people bumping in against each other. Steve apologizes to who-ever walked up to him.

“Steve? Honey! I didn’t know you would be here?” Sharon’s voice asks. When Tony looks up, he can see his cousin – his freaking little cousin who is practically his niece – leaning up and kissing Steve on the mouth. Steve, who looks surprised by this sudden encounter, takes a step back before Sharon finishes greeting her… husband.

“Shar, uh, hi,” Steve stutters out. Sharon raises her eyebrows at him, but she still manages a smile, looking amused.

“Ah, ever so flustered. Don’t ever change,” she jokes. Then she finally turns towards Tony, noticing him for the first time. “And this is…?”

“Iron Man, I’ve been invited by Captain Rogers to join the Avengers Initiative,” Tony says, holding out his hand to greet her. He wonders if this version of Sharon also hates him?

“Ah, right, Steve is always excited to have new members join the team,” Sharon says, putting a hand on Steve’s chest while leaning against him. “Are you from around here?”

“Well, uh, I was born here but I’ve lived in Malibu for a long while,” Tony says, pointing behind him without really thinking about it.

“Really? Did you ever meet Tony Stark? He’s like my Uncle,” Sharon says, laughing a bit. Next to her, Steve looks just extremely uncomfortable.

“Well, uh, kind of. He helped me making this suit,” Tony says before he can think of anything else.

“Ah, isn’t he just the greatest?” Sharon calls out, turning back towards Steve and giving him a sad look. “Too bad everybody here hates him. I’ve been trying to get them to change their mind, but Tony’s just like a grumpy grandpa, if things don’t go the way he wants it he can get a bit… eccentric.”

“You can say that,” Tony jokes, though he dares to admit he kind of grew out of that.

“Well, anyway, I hope you make the team,” Sharon says, being ever so lovely as always. It makes Tony feel guilty for being so furiously jealous at her right now. Especially when she turns back towards Steve. “I’ll see you tonight?”

Steve nods hesitantly. He gets another quick kiss from Sharon before the two of them get out of the elevator. Sharon quickly winks at Tony before the doors close again. He notices immediately when Steve lets out a relieved breath.

“Don’t tell me you’re this tense around her all the time?” Tony asks teasingly. He gets another glare from Steve, but other than that there’s just silence.

They get to the bridge. There’s the usual amount of people there, though what they’re supposed to be doing Tony doesn’t really know. The first person he comes across is Maria Hill, who just nods at Steve, eyes Tony curiously, but gets back to her work without asking questions.

There’s Coulson walking towards a door to their left, followed by a whole team of SHIELD-agents. Tony, despite his own words, feels a strange sense of nostalgia going through him.

“Rogers, have you finally decided on the mascot of the team?” Fury asks all of the sudden. Tony glares at him, realizing well enough that the guy can’t see it.

“Director, this is Iron Man. He’s interested on joining the team,” Steve tries to introduce Tony. He sounds a whole lot different from when he was talking to Sharon. He’s got his acting point back up.

Fury opens his mouth to say something, but before he can speak, loud alarms ring up inside Tony’s ears. Given the reaction of the others, it goes through the entire helicarrier.

“Well, it seems like your guy get his chance to prove himself right now,” Fury mutters out. “Suit up, Cap, and we’ll check out the situation.”

“There’s been a bombing caused by multiple robots in the streets somewhere near Corona,” Tony explains as he sees it all happen. “They look like Doom’s work.”

Fury just stares at him, and so does Steve.

“Uh, we’re losing time here? Cap, get dressed and I’ll fly you out there.”

Steve then nods. “Right,” he mutters out, running in the direction Tony remembers the suits are located. He’s extremely aware of Fury looking at him suspiciously, but he tries to ignore it.

“And who are you again?” Fury asks. Tony shrugs.

“Uh, I’m Iron Man,” he explains.

“No, I mean your real name, smartass,” Fury then clarifies. Tony clears his throat, looking down.

“As a matter of fact, I’m not obliged to pass along my identity to you, sir,” Tony returns.

“Right…” Fury mumbles. Tony blows out another breath, regretting it immediately when it hits him in the face almost instantly. “I’ll, uh… I’ll just meet the Captain on the deck upstairs, then.”

Fury doesn’t speak, instead giving him that usual glare of his. On his way out, he quickly fishes out the same little device he used the first time he was on the Helicarrier back in his world. Now, instead of letting JARVIS process the files, everything gets into his head immediately. Maybe not the best idea to start multitasking at this point, but if needed he can just put the whole thing on hold until further notice.

Tony has to wait about ten minutes before Steve finally rejoins him on the deck. Seeing him there with a suit that looks like Captain America’s, but clearly isn’t as good as the one Tony made for him, Tony fights the strong urge to comment on it.

He doesn’t speak, just holds out his hand towards Steve, who hesitantly takes it. Once their hands touch, Tony pulls him closer as if they’re dancing. With Steve’s side pressed tightly against Tony’s, the engineer comes off the ground.

“Hold your breath,” Tony instructs Steve, who has his eyes squeezed shut and turns his head against Tony’s shoulder to shield itself from the wind.

It’s not a long way to Corona. A couple of the Avengers are already on the team, but so far it’s chaos as the androids are all just making damage where-ever they are. Damn Doombots.

Even in this universe, Steve proves to be an amazing leader. He throws orders at everybody, even at Tony, and makes sure that the enemy is easily taken care off. All in all, the fight takes about three hours or so, leaving everybody out of breath and obviously exhausted. Tony, too, feels just about ready to go to bed.

But Steve first introduces Tony to everybody. Steve doesn’t tell them a name, explaining that he doesn’t know it either. Tony’s just ‘Iron Man’, the hero who rather keeps his identity hidden. The other Avengers’ reactions are divided. Some are exited to see him, while others, like Natasha and Sam, don’t seem to trust him that much.

It’s when they’re off guard that they’re caught in the last explosion. It’s loud thundering, and Tony’s instinct kicks in immediately, jumping to the side and pushing Steve out of the way. With a grunt, they fall on the ground, Tony lying on top of Steve to protect him from the falling rubble. Before they know it, all that surrounds them is darkness, the only light around them being the reactor on the chestplate.

“Shit,” Steve coughs out through the dust. Tony gives him a quick look, checking for any injuries.

“Are you alright, Steve?” he asks. Steve keeps his eyes closed but he nods, though his face looks pained.

“Yeah, I’m fine. You’re just heavy,” he gets out.

“Oh, sorry,” Tony returns. He sits up again, not keeping his eyes from Steve as the guy sits up a bit. As Steve observes what happened, Tony tries to get an outside look. He taps into a nearby camera going live, and looks at the feed currently being broadcasted.

The spot where he and Steve had been standing before Tony pushed him aside is covered with rock-pieces, parts of the wall that has apparently been blown up. The little space they’re currently underneath… it looks like multiple parts of the wall collapsed. It doesn’t look stable, trying to shift it away could kill them instantly.

There’s a short moment of horror when he sees Steve crawl to the wall, reaching to push against it.

“Don’t do it!” Tony warns him before he can touch the wall. “It’s not stable. If you move one part of the wall, it’s instant death.”

“Shit,” Steve repeats. Tony has never heard him cuss as much as in here. It’s kind of amazing.

“Don’t worry, we can contact the team and-“

“I lost my comm-link,” Steve interrupts him, holding a hand to his ear. “I took it out after the fight was over. It must have fallen out of my hand.”

Tony sighs, but then he sits up a bit more straight. “Let me try,” he then says. He closes his eyes, tapping into the different frequencies around him. It takes a little while before he can get to the Avengers’, but once he does it’s a cacophony of voices and curses.

“Avengers, this is Iron Man,” Tony says.

“ _Iron Man! Is Steve with you?”_ That’s Sam on the other side.

Tony nods. “Yes, we’re both unharmed, but we’re stuck under a pile of rubble that could collapse with the smallest touch.”

“ _Shit… okay, we’ll look around for anything that can help, just… stay put.”_

Tony snorts. “Kind of hard to do otherwise,” he mutters out. Then he turns back towards Steve, who looks just about miserable. He shakes his head, eyes staring into nothingness.

“You were right,” Steve mutters out. “I have been leading Sharon on this whole time…”

Tony doesn’t know what to say. He stays quiet, waiting for Steve to continue.

“You know she wants to start with kids? She’s refused to get any more birth-controlled materials in the house.”

Tony shakes his head. “But you don’t want children,” he states. Steve looks up, startled, with eyes wide. “We’ve dealt with this issue; I wanted kids. You didn’t. But it’s alright, because we have Peter. And he’s not a kid, but he’s _our_ kid.”

Steve gives him a long look. “You really love the other me, don’t you?” he asks. Tony bites his lips together, but doesn’t respond. Because he does, he does love Steve so much. But his behavior in the past few months, the way he dealt with the aftermath of the Infinity War… Tony said some things that he shouldn’t have. It’s his own fault that he pushed Steve away to New Asgard.

“You know, Sharon insists on visiting you every week or so,” Steve then starts. “It’s actually only because of that that I’ve realized I might like men… It’s actually… not so much the men that I like…”

“Wait… what?”

“But… how can I tell my wife, a woman a care for very deeply, that I might have feelings for her uncle? Or cousin, whatever you want to call it…”

“Steve, hold on a minute,” Tony mutters out. He removes the suit and crawls only slightly closer to where Steve is seated.

“But you’re just so… passionate. You care about Sharon, you care about your inventions. You care about your children, even though they don’t like you all that much. I’ve seen you with your daughter and it warmed my heart, Tony, I-“

Tony puts a hand on Steve’s mouth to make him stop talking. When Steve has calmed down a bit, Tony slides that hand to Steve’s cheeks, taking his face into his hands.

“Steve… why are you telling me this?” Tony asks calmly. Steve takes a deep, shaky breath.

“Because… the real Tony – or, the Tony _I_ know… He won’t remember this. He won’t know what I’ve said. And at least this way…” Steve doesn’t continue. Instead, he reaches out a hand towards Tony’s face as well.

“Steve…” Tony whispers out when Steve starts leaning his head forward. Tony pulls back, not wanting him to get even closer. “When I’m gone… I need you to tell him this.”

Steve’s eyes open again. He quickly shakes his head, starting up a counter-argument to that.

“No, no, no, Steve, you don’t understand,” Tony clears his throat. “Convince him to sign those divorce papers. Tell him about me, tell him about what I’ve told you. Steve, I’m not _happy_ in my world, but I am content. I am in love, and I am loved by somebody in return. And, yeah, I have my mental illnesses and my panic attacks, and I might chase the other you off sometimes in my bad moments, but… in the end, Steve always comes back to me, and I always come back to him.”

Steve’s eyes start getting wet from tears. Tony caresses his cheek gently, giving him a small smile.

“Stop pretending. Sure, Sharon is going to be sad. _You_ even get to be sad. But… it’s a whole lot better than ending up in a loveless marriage, being a parent to a couple of kids you’ve never wanted.”

“He’s not going to believe me,” Steve tells him, then. Tony tilts his head to the side for a bit, smiling again.

“He will. I’ll make sure of that,” Tony says. And, true enough, in his head he’s already preparing everything he needs. It’s just a little folder, filled with all the files necessary to tell the other Tony a story. The story of how Tony fell in love. The story of how he’s never alone because of Steve. The story of how this Steve confesses everything to the wrong Tony.

Sure, this Steve might not like it, but it’s not like Tony’s going to stick around after he finds out.

“Can I-“ Steve stops, clearing his throat before looking back up. “Can I kiss you? Just this once? To know what it’s like?”

Tony smiles a bit, but he doesn’t nod. Instead, he closes his eyes and leans forward, indicating that Steve can do as he pleases. It’s slow, thrilling, almost as if Tony’s about to kiss Steve for the first time again, only the second time. Yet, the moment their lips as much as caress each other, there’s a loud noise coming around them.

Light surrounds them without warning. Pieces of dust and small bits of rock fall on them, but Steve is quick enough to pull up his shield and hold it above their heads. Tony makes himself small against him, finally taking in the fresh air of the open. The smell of dust gets old after a while.

“Finally! Are you guys okay?” the voice of Clint Barton asks. Steve, who still has a protective arm wrapped around Tony’s shoulder, lets out a relieved breath.

“Wait, is that… Stark?!”

Steve turns to look at Tony, who in turn looks down at his body. Right, he took off the suit a bit ago. Nervously, he scratches his head.

“What the hell’s going on, Steve?” Natasha asks. All the Avengers are surrounding them, each one looking even angrier than the other.

“This, uh…” Steve starts, but he seems speechless. Tony, too, doesn’t really know how to get himself out of this one. The Avengers hate him, there’s nothing much he can change about that.

“Oh my god,” somebody, probably Scott, mutters. Everybody’s eyes look up to the spot Scott is pointing at. In turn, Natasha turns around as well. And Tony realizes what they’re looking at. He’s seen it before; a portal made by Strange. But it looks weak, like it’s not stable at all.

“ _DAD_!” a voice shouts. That’s Peter. _His_ Peter, Tony realizes immediately. “ _Dad, Strange can’t keep this up for long! Go through the portal!”_

Tony smiles, slowly getting up. In turn, Steve gets on his feet as well, though still holding on to Tony with his strong arms.

“I can go home,” he mutters out. He didn’t even have to build that machine. Hell, he’s been hacking through SHIELD’s files and he didn’t even need to. Quickly, he turns towards Steve, taking his hands into his own. “I need to go, Steve.”

Steve looks sad, but understanding.

“When I’m gone, the other Tony is probably going to be here. Or, I don’t know how it works… Just… remember what I asked you, okay?” Tony reminds him. Steve nods, pulling his hands back and putting one behind Tony’s head. Then he pulls him closer, kissing him straight on the mouth.

Tony gasps in surprise, and so do the other Avengers. Everybody seems confused about what’s happening. Is Steve seriously kissing him in front of the entire world to see? There are reporters nearby, after all!

“I’ll handle Tony,” Steve whispers against his lips with a light smile. Tony grins before kissing him one more time, this time more out of reflex. Then he pulls away. He doesn’t say goodbye to the others, doesn’t even think about saying goodbye to the kids, or Mary. That’s the other Tony’s life, not his.

And Tony has a near-perfect family waiting for him on the other side of this portal.


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy watching Infinity War for those who can! I'll see it on Sunday.  
> Wish me luck on my job interview today!
> 
> Chapter warnings:  
> \- slight violence  
> \- Talking about things

Peter can see Tony stumble through the portal. It’s a relief, the biggest one he’s felt in the past few weeks, to see him get through unharmed other than a few scrapes, looking dusty and dirty. Peter wonders in what kind of world he was sent to.

Was it a post-apocalyptic world? Was humanity nearly wiped out? He doesn’t know if he can ask. Steve won’t talk about what happened behind his portal. He’s just sprinting towards Tony, kneeling down the moment the man falls down on the ground, looking worried instantly.

“Tony, are you alright?” Steve asks nervously, his hand going over Tony’s face to make him look up. Tony, who seems a bit disoriented, just blinks a couple of times. When Peter joins the two of them, Tony smiles.

“Oh, my boys,” Tony mutters out happily, throwing his arms around the both of them. Peter chuckles, though Steve stays quiet.

“We were worried! Strange was about to lose his grip on the portal before you came through! What took you so long?” Peter asks curiously. Tony pulls back at last, getting Steve’s help to get back on his feet.

“Uh, the alternate version of Steve had a statement to make, I think,” Tony jokes. Then he eyes Steve curiously. “You’re not married, are you?”

“You know I’m not,” Steve mutters out. Tony smiles.

“Ah, well, in that case,” Tony returns, taking Steve’s face into his hands and pulling him closer for a kiss. Peter averts his eyes, noticing the other Avengers still standing there, keeping their distance. Dr. Strange is seated down on the ground, with Wanda hovering over him as she looks after him. Peter has no idea how the battle against Mordo went but given that the guy is currently knocked out and being restrained, Peter figures they defeated him in the end. The destruction around them might be another dark stain on their names.

“I love you,” Peter hears Steve mutter against Tony’s mouth. When Peter turns around, he can catch tears on Steve’s cheeks. What happened in Steve’s universe? Peter asked before, and Steve didn’t want to answer. He had been the first one Strange managed to pull back, and according to Natasha he hasn’t spoken about it at all since he came back. “I love both of you.”

Peter startles when, all of the sudden, strong arms are wrapped around Peter’s shoulders and he’s pulled back into a strong hug.

“I have so much to tell you, guys,” Peter admits. “And we have so much more to tell, but… first we should get this suit off, no?”

The two men nod in agreement. That’s when Wanda clears her throat.

“I’m sorry, we had to let go of the piece we managed to preserve when we heard about the fight getting out of hand,” she admits. Peter hears Tony curse next to him. Steve just seems confused about what they’re talking about.

“It’s alright. I know what to do,” Peter returns. He quickly explains everything Gwen told him about how she got rid of the suit. “But it’s possible that the suit is going to fight back. You can’t count on my co-operation.”

Everybody nods in understanding. Steve and Tony get back on their feet, their hands holding each other in a strong grip. Though the Quinjet has been blown up, so they can’t make a quick return to the tower. They have to wait for a bit, it seems.

“Do we need to get an ambulance?” Natasha asks after a while. Strange gently gets back on his feet, shaking his head.

“I have a mild concussion, a couple of bruised ribs and a fractured leg. Nothing that can’t heal over time,” Strange grits out through his teeth.

“If your leg is fractured, don’t you need to make sure it heals the right way again?” Clint asks in confusion.

“Wanda already repositioned it,” Strange counters. Then he looks back at Mordo, who is still knocked out. “Bring him to the sanctum. I’m sure the others will want to know what he did.” With trouble, Strange holds up his hands, making another portal that leads to the tower, so it seems.

“Uh, Stephen, that’s not the Sanctum,” Clint points out. Strange shakes his head.

“A couple of you should head back and take care of that symbiote possessing your kid. But be careful, it might seem compliant now, but when you get it off it’ll try to escape. Don’t let it out.”

Everybody nods. Then, Tony, Steve, Natasha and Peter face the portal. Peter’s just about ready to give up these portals forever, but for this one last time he can bite through it. He follows his dads through it, feeling Natasha wrap a protective arm over his shoulder.

“It’s going to be fine,” Natasha tells him gently, kissing him on the top of his head, covered by the mask. Peter smiles a bit. When he turns around, the portal is gone.

They head to the lab, where Bruce and Hope are seated, waiting for anything news. May is sitting next to him, looking at the screen with worry on her face. When somebody clears their throat, the three look up in surprise.

“Peter!” May calls out, getting back on her feet and running up to Peter. She pulls off his mask and checks his face. “I was so worried! Are you alright?”

Peter nods, smiling slightly. “Yeah, I’m fine. I’m back on the wheel,” he assures her. “Though I’m not sure for how long. The suit is already starting to resist it.”

And it’s true, Peter feels a constant urge to head out, to get away from these people. There’s something knocking behind his mind, trying to sink into his thoughts and prevent him from doing anything more. It’s really distracting, but Peter can’t give in. He keeps on fighting it, despite the headache it brings him.

“Let’s get to work, then. Steve, you stay with Peter, restrain him in case he tries to run off again.” Tony starts walking towards the computer, greeting Bruce with a gentle squeeze on the shoulder. As he starts explaining some things, Peter keeps his mind off it. He stands next to Steve, giving the man a long look before hugging him again.

“I missed you, Steve,” Peter admits. “I know I might not say it like that, but… you’re my dad, too. You know that, right?”

Steve’s eyes get glassy with tears, his face full of emotion. After a small sob, the man pulls Peter closer again, almost squeezing him breathless in the strong hug. Next to him, Peter can see May giving him a fond look. Peter reaches out his hand towards her, letting her take it.

“May, I’m sorry for being a brat lately,” Peter apologizes. She shakes her head.

“I’m sorry for being so distracted, too,” she returns. It seems like they both understand they need to work on talking to each other more. After getting rid of Venom, that’s the first thing Peter’s going to do. Phone calls, bi-weekly visits, whatever else.

“Alright, we’re ready to go,” Tony says. “I’m putting the place on lockdown. May, you better get in the observation room with Bruce and Shuri. Things might get a bit rough in here.”

May hesitates for a little moment before nodding. She kisses Peter on the forehead once more before turning around and exiting the room. After that, Tony locks everything, making sure that nobody – or nothing – gets out. That includes ventilation shafts, sinks and pretty much everything that could be used as a gate from one place to another.

“Are you ready, Peter?” Tony asks. Peter nods, hesitantly.

“Just, make sure you guys don’t get possessed instead,” Peter urges through gritted teeth. Talking demands a lot of his attention. He’s not even aware of his own hand going up towards Steve, only realizing it when Steve lets out a painful grunt. Looking at his own fist in horror, Peter realizes he’s just punched him in the face.

“Dad!” Peter calls out, but before he can get an answer from Tony, the suit shoots out a couple of webs towards Hope’s eyes. Then, he jumps up, finding himself grabbing a hold of Tony. He’s standing on his father’s shoulders, hands ready at Tony’s neck. But before the suit can do anything, Tony lets his own armor surround him, throwing him across the room without trouble.

“I’m sorry, Peter!” Tony shouts at him. Peter doesn’t mind. His dad has to do what needs to be done. Peter barely has time to respond to crashing against the wall, breaking a whole lot of expensive equipment. Before he knows it, Steve grabs his arms and restrains his movement. Peter grunts in his attempts to break free, but Steve is persistent.

Peter feels like the suit is going to stop fighting. The struggling against Steve stop, which is about the biggest relief Peter has right now. He lowers his head and closes his eyes, just wishing that Tony would start up the device already. Next to him, Peter can see Hope finally getting rid of the web on her eyes by shrinking it down.

The suit kicks out. It’s a surprise to both Steve and Peter. And as Peter kicks Steve right in the groin, the super soldier releases his hold on him, instead falling on his knees with a red face, looking pained.

“I’m sorry, Steve!” Peter calls out after him. Steve shakes his head, but he doesn’t respond to it. Instead, he leans to the side, pressing his head against the wall while he tries to get over his hurt pride.

“If that goddamn suit is going to be the reason I’m not getting laid tonight, I’m going to be extremely pissed,” Tony grunts out, only barely avoiding Peter jumping back on him. Tony rolls forward on the ground, jumping into the air and hovering for a bit while he takes in the room.

“Don’t worry, you weren’t going to get laid anyway,” Steve hisses back with his voice still sounding pained.

“Come on, guys, stop being gross!” Peter complains. “Dad, just start the damn machine!” The suit throws a punch Hope’s way, but she avoids it easily enough. Turning herself small again, she rushes towards him and forces him on his feet as well. That smallest of punch hurts the hardest, Peter realizes as he smashes back against a couple of computers.

“I can’t, the thing took my remote!” Tony counters.

“Oh my God, Dad! You’re a living computer, you don’t need a remote!”

Tony stops whatever he’s doing, just staring ahead of him. “Oh, right,” he mutters out. Then, in just a fraction of a second, a loud noise fills the room. It’s hurting Peter’s ears, to a point where he thinks they might even start bleeding. Steve, who had been on the ground now starts covering his own ears while letting out a loud shout. Tony gently hovers towards him and puts some sort of headphone on him.

Peter, though… he’s lost all control of his body. He hadn’t even noticed throwing himself on the ground, but here he is, grabbing at the black goo that is suddenly starting to come off his suit. It’s resisting, really hard. The suit tries to escape from the sound, but at the same time doesn’t want to let go. And Peter feels powerless, his ears about to explode from the noise.

He shouts, fights as much as he can. The moment his head is free, Hope is there by his side putting the same pair of headphones on his head as well. It’s an instant relief, his head coming to rest despite the remaining ringing in his ears. That’s going to take a while to get better, Peter understands.

“Don’t touch him!” somebody’s voice says through the headphones. Peter realizes Hope was reaching out for him. It’s Shuri who’s talking, probably through an intercom. “The suit is going to attach itself to you! Peter has to repel it on his own!”

Tony comes back down next to Steve, offering him a hand to get him back up.

“Honey I know you can do it,” he can hear May say through the comm. Peter grunts once again, feeling like he’s pulling on the suit as hard as he can, but it just stays stuck to him. Peter shakes his head when it tries to reach back to his face.

“No, no, no!” he mutters out.

“Get a higher frequency!” Bruce shouts somewhere. He figures that Tony agrees, as suddenly the fight seems less straining. The parts that were crawling back up his face come loose, and it even get to a point where it looks like the suit wants to get off as quickly as possible. Peter sits up the moment he feels like everything is off, throwing the black goo – the thing he remembers seeing back on the crash site – somewhere in the room. Tony seems prepared for it, dropping a container on it the moment it’s free of Peter.

The noise stops. Peter goes lying back down on the ground, feeling breathless and aching. His ears are still ringing, his muscles burning. As he tries to regain his breath, he’s barely aware of May running back towards him.

“Peter, are you alright?!” she asks, sounding worried. There’s a hand on his head, and another one on his shoulder.

“His parameters are alright,” Tony says somewhere. “Heartrate elevated which is normal on this occasion, but other than that there’s nothing standing out.”

Peter chuckles a bit, though keeping his eyes closed. He realizes he’s dressed in nothing but his underwear, but he doesn’t care. The suit is gone, and he feels like this dark cloud has been removed from his head. He’s no longer in conflict with himself.

Now it’s time to start atoning for the mistakes he made in the past few weeks.

 

* * *

 

 

May has been offered a bed to stay the night, but she’s refused it. Staying with Peter while he sleeps, May explains that she’s perfectly comfortable like this.

It’s evening, only an hour after they’ve managed to get rid of Venom as Peter came to call it. It’s locked up, put safely away in Tony’s lab where they’ll deal with it in a bit. Right now, though, it seems like everybody just needs a moment to breathe. So after the Avengers have returned from Strange’s, and everybody’s up to date with everything, the group disbands for the evening. Rhodey, Barnes and Natasha are the first to get back down, wishing everybody goodnight before they head towards the elevator. Vision is next, immediately followed by Wanda. Clint and Sam take a moment longer to get rid of, but eventually, they, too, head downstairs.

Once only Hope and Scott remain, the latter already falling asleep on the couch while Hope keeps her eyes on the city underneath them. They’re not outside; it’s raining. Instead, she stays at the window. Tony slowly gets up to her, scraping his throat to indicate that he’s getting closer.

“I’m sorry, Tony. My head was wandering off,” she says quietly, though forcing a smile on her face. Tony nods, giving her a smile as well.

“I wanted to thank you. For helping out Peter,” he says in return.

“I wasn’t much help,” she returns, sounding disappointed in herself. Tony shakes his head, putting a hand on her shoulder and turning her around so she’s looking at him.

“You helped plenty,” Tony assures her. “You saved my son.”

Hope closes her eyes, unknowing of what to do with the praise. Tony squeezes her shoulder once again shortly before letting go. He turns back to the couch, where he can see Scott sleeping against Bruce’s shoulder. Bruce is still talking with Steve about something.

Steve’s back. Tony can’t really believe it. Last night, he was almost convinced they were completely over. And now? Tony’s going to talk the shit out of this, and they’re going to make something work even if it kills them.

Okay, that’s maybe a bit dramatic.

“I’ll take Scott home,” Hope then says, sounding amused because of her sleeping partner. Scott jumps up, awake when he hears his name being called out. Holding out her hand, Hope pulls him out of the couch. “We’ll see you all tomorrow.”

Bruce, too, gets up. “Yeah, I should leave you two alone, as well,” he says. “Don’t- just take it slow, guys, okay?”

Tony snorts, and Steve looks away, clearly embarrassed.

“Don’t worry, I think we’ve all learned our lesson,” Tony jokes back at him. He waves at the three making their way out, dropping on the couch the moment the door closes behind them. Then, there’s a relieved sigh coming out of his mouth.

“We’ve learned our lesson?” Steve then asks. Tony throws his head back over the armrest of the couch, closing his eyes while he enjoys the peace. “I sure hope you don’t think we’re just not going to talk about what happened?”

“Well, we got thrown into an alternate dimension where our lives were extremely different and I learned that I was a pretty horrible dad in an unhappy marriage. What was your journey through the dimensions like?”

“Tony…”

“Alright alright,” Tony agrees, sitting up with his hands up in defeat. “You’re right, I’m beating around the bush again. I know we need to talk, I just… it’s probably not going to be pleasant.”

“It isn’t,” Steve agrees with his arms crossed, looking at Tony with that intense gaze. “Before we got separated the way we did, I had every intention to tell you we were done.”

Tony freezes on the spot. He wouldn’t have expected Steve to just flat out say it like that, like he didn’t care at all. Carefully, Tony looks back up at him, trying to catch his expression.

“And now?”

Steve’s eyes meet his. His expression sad. For a moment, Tony fears.

“Now I feel ashamed for even thinking about leaving you,” Steve then admits. Tony lets out a loud huff, his hand going to his chest while he sags back on the couch.

“What happened in your universe, Steve?” Tony asks. So far, Steve hasn’t said a word about it, making Tony question what exactly happened over there. But Steve shakes his head, clearly not comfortable enough to talk about it like that.

“Let me just say that, at first when I arrived there, I though I didn’t want to leave anymore. But then I met the other you. And I realized I didn’t want to have the role I had in your life. I couldn’t just be uncle Steve to you.”

“Uncle Steve, huh?” Tony returns, smirking a bit at Steve. It disappears again the moment he sees Steve’s sad look. Then Tony stands up, making his way to Steve’s couch and sitting down next to him.

“I love you,” Steve utters out. “I love you so much, I feel like the words fall short, like they can’t express just how much I care for you.” Steve’s hands are rested on Tony’s cheeks, his eyes looking at him sadly, but also full of adoration. “But I just don’t know if I can help you, Tony; Last panic attack you kicked me out and I stayed away for three weeks or so.”

“Shhh, Steve,” Tony stops him. “It’s not your burden to bear.” Tony leans forward, pressing his forehead against Steve’s. His fingers carding through Steve’s hair, the two take a moment to calm themselves down. “I shouldn’t keep on kicking you out. That’s not fair of me. You live here just as much as I do.”

“Not really, though,” Steve admits. Tony eyes him curiously before shrugging.

“Fine, then I’ll get my lawyers to write you down as an owner of this tower as well.” Tony puts his hand on Steve’s lips to stop him from talking. “But we need to put up some ground rules, alright?”

Steve nods, Tony’s fingers still on his mouth.

“First of all; no more discussion of all this having-children crap, alright? We know where we stand on this, let’s just not bring it up anymore.”

“Actually, I need to say one last thing about it,” Steve quickly adds, pulling his head back. Tony raises an eyebrow. “I, uh… I’ve spent some time with, uh, children. You know, in the other universe. And, you know… if you really want them I wouldn’t mind… you know, wouldn’t mind too much, I guess.”

Tony blinks in surprise. “You know, after my time in my universe… I don’t think I want more of them,” Tony admits as well. He chuckles then, shaking his head while closing his eyes. “Look at us, every time one of us takes a step forward, the other one goes back…”

“Let’s just write off kids for good then?” Steve suggests. Tony nods, though still grinning through it. His hand finds Steve’s, and he squeezes his fingers.

“We’ll just be amazing grandparents, instead,” Tony assures him. Steve smiles as well. It doesn’t last too long, when Steve sees Tony’s face get serious again. “But there’s something I need to tell you.”

“What’s wrong?” Steve asks, clearly unsettled.

“I told Peter about the Infinity War. He didn’t take it too well at first, but now it seems like he hasn’t completely processed it. Just… be sure to pay attention to him in the next few days.” Tony turns towards the hallway that leads to the bedrooms. “He hasn’t been taking his meds the entire time he’s been with Venom, and I fear that he might just stumble into a dark hole when the effects of the suit wears off.”

Steve nods in understanding. “We shouldn’t have kept it from him,” he says. Tony agrees with that, but they can’t exactly change how it happened. “And I’m also pretty upset that the rest of the team kept from me the fact that you’ve injected yourself with… _nanites?”_

Yeah, Steve has no idea what that means.

“I know, I know. Stupid Idea, I should know better,” Tony admits. “I just… Peter wasn’t talking to me, you weren’t talking to me, the team was being secretive… I was miserable, and I just figured ‘who will even care?’… And before you start shouting at me, I know people will care, I was just in a bad headspace.”

“But what if it hadn’t worked? What if you had ended up paralyzed or something like that?”

Tony shrugs. “It would have happened, I know it was reckless… I don’t know what came over me, okay? I was miserable.”

“So you’ve mentioned…” Steve returns. “As long as you don’t pull any crap like that again!”

“I can’t promise that and you know it,” Tony jokes. He reaches for Steve’s face, poking him once on the nose before laughing. Steve just rolls his eyes.

“You’re incredible,” he mutters out. Tony just nods proudly.

“Listen, I know we have much to talk about, but can you finally tell me about this secret mission Thor asked you for? The others wouldn’t say a word about it,” Tony asks. He needs a bit of a distraction. Peter’s fine right now, May’s with him. Steve’s here, too. Everybody’s here.

Steve chuckles, then. “You know, Thor made us promise not to tell anybody outside of Asgard,” Steve explains. “But I guess he can’t really expect from me that I wouldn’t tell you.”

Tony smirks, shuffling a bit closer on his seat until his knees are touching Steve’s. The super-soldier takes his hands into his own as he starts explaining.

“Thor and Jane are getting married,” Steve explains then. “Jane is pregnant, and they want to get everything in order before the kid is born.”

“Wow, that’s sudden. Good for them,” Tony calls out.

“Yeah, well, uh, sadly, it seemed like as they were searching through the few historical artifacts they’ve managed to take along, one of them accidentally summoned multiple plagues on the city. Nothing too disastrous, nobody was going to die, but Thor wanted this solved before the wedding.”

“What were the plagues, then?” Tony asks, unable to hold back a grin. Steve shrugs.

“Ah, you know, stuff like diarrhea for one were the worst cases, I think. Other than that, it was just the near-constant crying of children, the wine automatically becoming sour, people waking up as a different gender, people getting drunk on only water. You can imagine Hilde in that last situation.”

Tony snickers at that. He can easily imagine it, yeah! “Sounds mostly like Loki’s work to me, though.”

Steve nods. “It was, in fact. It was the first object he put a spell on, with his mother’s help. The family kept it as a loving memory. Sadly, Raido didn’t get that memo – you know, being a baby and all – and accidentally dropped it on the ground.”

“I can just imagine it. The apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree,” Tony jokes. “So how did you fix it?”

“Well, they mostly needed us to hold back the people who turned psycho because of it while Loki searched for a way to fix it. I can’t believe it took as long as it did. Almost two weeks of non-stop fighting confused Asgardians gets old after a while.”

“Wait,” Tony interrupts, holding up a hand. “So people went all zombie-mode on you, and you think the diarrhea is still the worst part of it all?”

Steve blushes after that, shuffling a bit in his seat. “It was when you’re mid-battle and can’t just take a toilet break, Tony.”

“Hold up, you’re trying to tell me that-“

“You know what, never mind… I’m not telling you anything more,” Steve mutters, pulling his hands loose from Tony’s and crossing his arms, clearly annoyed at him. Tony can’t help but laughing further, wiping some tears from his eyes.

“Ah, come on babe, don’t be angry,” Tony says. He leans forward until he’s resting against Steve’s chest, his head against Steve’s shoulder. “Forget the crapping part and just go on to the rest.”

Steve grumbles for a moment longer before he loosens his arms again, accepting the position Tony is trying to achieve. With Tony’s back pressed against Steve’s chest, the super-soldier takes his hands once again into his own.

“Right, so, once Loki gets everything back in order, Thor throws a big feast to celebrate the victory. That’s actually when he announced Jane’s pregnancy. It was all really nice.”

“I can imagine,” Tony returns, smiling as he tries to picture it in front of him. It’s actually a shame he didn’t go along because of his own stubbornness. “When’s the wedding?”

“A week from now,” Steve says. “The guys were going to lure you and Peter out there with the false story of another mission, but I don’t really want to keep you in the dark. Besides, Rhodey and Bruce don’t know about it yet, either.”

“I’m looking forward to it,” Tony admits. “I can’t wait to see it.”

“It’s really beautiful,” Steve explains. “I actually took some pictures, if you want to see them?”

Tony turns his head slightly, only barely able to see Steve like this. “ _You_ took pictures? Hell yeah, I want to see them.”

And so Steve takes out his phone, and he shows Tony what he captured. And, together in each other’s arms, they fall asleep on a couch that is in no way intended for sleeping in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cap's experience in the alternate universe is for the timestamp. This story is strictly written in Tony & Peter's POV and I wasn't going to stray for that! Don't worry, you'll get it!


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter warnings  
> \- Acute depressive episode  
> \- Peter is extremely down  
> \- Peter has some sudden dark thoughts that come and go just as quickly

It's a heavy week for everybody living in Stark Tower.

There’s a dark cloud in the entire penthouse. Daily, people come by to see how Peter is doing now that he’s free of Venom. But, without the symbiote’s distraction, it seems like reality is hitting Peter hard. Practically bedridden for the past few days, everybody realizes just how much the kid has been carrying along.

It aches, to see his boy like this. Peter, the usual cheerful and happy boy, is now so down and broken. Whenever he’s not crying, he’s shouting and blaming himself for anything that’s happened. When he manages to sleep, it’s not long until he’s awakened by nightmares. When they get him to eat something, he’s almost lifeless and pale as he sits at the table.

May temporarily moved into the tower. They have prepared a bed for her in Tony’s unused office. Having put aside all the furniture in there, Rhodey and May have practically made the place their own. Only for a little while, though, May keeps on assuring him. She has no intention on staying here after Peter gets back on his own feet.

Tony is aware of Peter’s friends asking him where he is. He’s missing his classes – Tony already explained something to the school. It’s possible for Peter to still succeed the semester, but he’s going to have to work hard after missing all those classes. But that’s a worry for later. He gives Johnny a little update on him. He’s sure Johnny will explain it to Peter’s other friends.

They never leave Peter alone. Not sure how low exactly he is, they rather avoid any unneeded problems. At night, somebody stays with him. During the day, he has company. He’s never on his own, but so far he hasn’t complained about it.

Things have been rough on Peter. The day after getting rid of Venom, it started. The combination of seeing Gwen again, losing MJ, having his body hijacked and the arguments is just too much. Tony doesn’t know how he can help him. Nobody in here knows. They’re all just watching on the tips of their toes, avoiding making it worse.

Though, not exactly ‘nobody’. May handles it pretty well, so it seems. And so does Steve. While everybody tries to be careful with Peter, the two of them just act like they normally would around him. Sure, they don’t act the exact same way, keeping attention to Peter’s behavior, but… Tony doesn’t know. He can’t really explain it.

Shuri, who is by now back in Wakanda, says that she can try to help with it. Having brought a blood sample along before she returned home, she promised to every member of the Avengers that she would try to fix this. Tony can’t wait until she manages to find something.

It’s horrible, really. Tony’s probably the only one in this house who knows how Peter is feeling right now – to some extent – yet he finds himself the least competent on knowing how to deal with it.

Around eight in the evening the day before they have to leave for New Asgard, it’s once again Tony’s turn to look after Peter. Today might have been _slightly_ better than the other days, though that only barely showed with Peter getting out of his bed willingly this morning – ignoring the fact that it was only to get a glass of water.

Hey, it’s progress!

Tony’s lying in Peter’s bed, much the same way May did in the past days. Peter’s asleep; he’d been awake for the entire evening just explaining to Tony how he practically hates his own existence and admitted to his fears of never being enough. Tony had listened to him, but other than assuring Peter that he _is_ cared for, that people _do_ love him, he didn’t have much else to say. After all, when he was the one in Peter’s shoes, he didn’t need people coddling over him all the time.

Peter’s only asleep for ten minutes before the door opens again. With the Avengers coming and going in the past few days, it could be anyone, really. Though, much to his relief, Tony sees Steve walking inside carefully.

“Can I come in?” Steve asks in a whisper. Tony looks down at Peter, and then nods.

“Sure,” Tony assures him, keeping his voice down as well. Steve walks up to the bed, taking place on the opposite side, making sure Peter is lying between them. The super soldier immediately puts a hand on Peter’s head and kisses him on his hair before leaning back against the bed board.

“How’s it going?” Steve asks. Tony just shrugs.

“He’s been better. We’ll fight through it,” he assures him. “I suggested he stayed home for the wedding, but he refused to hear it.”

“That’s our Peter, alright,” Steve chuckles. While Tony keeps on cradling Peter’s hair, Steve’s hand lands on top of Tony’s, tangling their fingers together. Tony looks up to him, swallowing past a lump in his throat.

How is it fair that Steve gets to be so beautiful?

“You keep on being saddled up with our problems all the time,” Tony mutters out. He can’t help it, he feels guilty. Sure, nobody can blame Peter for feeling the way he is, but Tony just can’t believe that he put Steve through the exact same situation once before.

“Hey, I don’t care about that,” Steve assures him. “As long as, in the end, I still have both of you, I’m fine.”

Tony chuckles. “Well, we’re not going anywhere,” he assures him. He leans his head to the side until it’s resting on Steve’s shoulder, and then a loud sigh escapes his lips.

“You know, I was thinking…”

“Oh no, that sounds dangerous,” Tony interrupts. Steve throws him a glare, but then continues.

“You said, back when we were fighting Mordo… you know… that I was being an Avenger before being a parent?”

Tony stiffens a bit. He did say that, but he didn’t really mean it. Yeah, sure, he had been angry! Nobody can hold it against him, right?

“I was thinking of maybe, just for a little while, retiring from the Avengers? Just a year or two, maybe?”

Tony pulls his head back, giving Steve a playful grin.

“Steve, without you there’s no team. You’re the leader,” Tony counters. Steve just shrugs.

“Natasha can take over just fine,” he responds. “She could even handle the shield in the meantime. I mean, even Buck or Sam could if they want to.”

“Careful, or the next thing you’ll say is that Clint could, too.”

“Well, it’s not impossible,” Steve mutters out. Tony sighs but then puts his head back down.

“I don’t want you to leave the team,” Tony admits. “I was just trying to make you feel guilty for bailing on me. I don’t hold the fact that you were on a mission against you.”

“But you chose to stay behind?”

“Yeah, well, as horrible as it is to say, Peter wasn’t the reason for that,” Tony confesses. “I would have gone, but I was just… burying myself in self-pity. It’s ridiculous, really.”

Steve shakes his head. Tony can feel it above his. “It’s never ridiculous,” Steve assures him, kissing him on the head slightly.

“I mean it, Steve. Stay on the team. Don’t quit because of what I said during a bad moment.”

Steve doesn’t respond anymore, meaning that he’s thinking about it. That’s all Tony could ask for, really. He just takes a deep breath and closes his eyes for a bit. He barely even realizes he’s fallen asleep until he wakes up under the covers, Steve’s hand on his arm with Peter cocooned safely between them.

Tony smiles lightly before closing his eyes again. This is far from a happy moment. Very far from it. But it’s a beginning, which is enough for Tony.

 

* * *

 

 

The journey to New Asgard is long, even with the quinjet. A normal flight would have taken about seven or more hours, and while they’ve done it in four, they are still four extremely long hours of too many people cramped together in a small space.

To be fair, Peter’s sure Tony took that into account, which is why they’re flying in two separate quinjets, but… yeah, even with May’s constant fussing over him, Rhodey’s attempts of distracting him by playing cards, Steve’s calm stories of whatever crazy thing that happened back with the Howling Commandos to even Clint’s failing jokes, Peter’s about ready to start crawling up the walls.

Walking is a little bit more bearable now. He’s not having the constant feeling of needing to sleep. Sure, he would rather just spend the entire day in bed, doing nothing but regret every life choice he’s made so far in his life, but he knows that, in the future, he would hate himself even more for missing out on Thor’s wedding.

A real Asgardian wedding! That must be something to behold, wouldn’t it? Yet, Peter’s not finding it in himself to be excited. He’ll just have to bite through it, he figures. He’s rather hoping they’ll be so busy all the time that he won’t have a moment with his own thoughts. That would be great, after all.

Tony’s flying the quinjet. Rhodey is seated next to him, the two of them in the middle of a long conversation Peter hasn’t even tried to pay attention to. Bruce is somewhere on Peter’s left, headphones around his neck and explaining something to Steve, who seems like he’s lost in the words and is just nodding along to stay polite.

May is next to Peter. Her hand is holding his, but she’s since long stopped trying to talk to him. It’s not that Peter doesn’t want to, but it’s more that it’s extremely hard to start a conversation without wanting to blame the entire world for everything. So he stays quiet, in turn making May continue her book at last. Peter can just remember her reaction when she heard they were going to New Asgard. She’d been excited, but at the same time worried about Peter’s health.

It took a bit of convincing, but eventually everybody seemed to agree it might do him good to just take some time off and spend it in another country.

With May now only working half-time, she can get more time off to go to these kinds of things. Like Wakanda, last week or so. Peter’s actually sure Tony has something to do with it, but it’s also entirely possible her boss just lets her off the hook because he’s got a secret crush on her. He wouldn’t be the first one, after all. Peter remembers the waiter at the Thai-restaurant, Mr. Delmar… That just seems like a lifetime ago.

Somewhere during the flight Peter falls asleep. He doesn’t mean too, but it’s not really so bad to wake up and find out they’ve arrived. Once his eyes are completely opened, May is already packing in her book, Steve is walking towards Tony to check out the landing. Bruce is busy putting his headphones away.

“Alright, everybody, prepare for a smooth landing,” Tony jokes. When the quinjet shakes slightly, he chuckles. “Yeah, we’ll blame that on the wind.”

Peter can see Rhodey roll his eyes. He hadn’t even noticed the man sitting next to May again.

It’s weird, going to a wedding with no formal wear with them. Thor apparently insisted on them wearing Asgardian gowns, so nobody really brought anything along. Mostly, everybody’s just curious as to what they get to wear.

The Avengers prepared them for the possible cold weather that is to be expected in Norway. While it keeps on staying rather warm in New York – though it cooled down well enough since fall started – it’s nothing compared to the temperatures in New Asgard. The snowfall even takes Peter by surprise.

Dressed in their thick coats, everybody exits the aircraft. Natasha lands the other ship not too far from the other. As soon as the other Avengers step out, Peter can see them all groaning and complaining from being inside for too long.

Peter sighs, allowing May to hook her arm into Peter’s and make him follow Steve and Clint, since they’re about the only ones who know the way. May, feeling like a complete tourist, already has her phone at the ready to take some snapshots. Rhodey and Bruce are walking ahead of them, deep in discussion about old traditional Viking weddings. Peter’s pretty sure Thor’s not a Viking, but he doesn’t really care enough to correct them. Bruce has enough PhD’s to figure that out, he states.

There’s a small city blooming up. It looks nice, though not at all how Peter would have expected Asgard to be like back on their realm. Bruce, too, seems surprised.

“It looks great, but it’s almost nothing like how it used to be,” he states. Peter figures that the biggest building in front of them must be the royal palace. It’s strange, knowing that Thor lives there, being the King of this little… city? Country? What exactly is Asgard even? Isn’t it too small to call it a Kingdom? How does the rest of Norway even think about this?

“I expect you are the other members of Avengers?” a woman asks next to them. Everybody turns around to find a pale, dark-haired woman looking at them with large, serious eyes. Only half of the group seems to recognize her, though the woman next to them is familiar enough.

Hilde smiles despite her constant tough act. It’s obvious she’s containing most of her enthusiasm, keeping her distance from the group.

“Well, well, look who decided to finally show up!” she says. Then she turns towards the other woman, patting her on the shoulder. “I told you they’d beat the Guardians, Sif. Pay up.”  

Sif shakes her head, but smirks in return, pulling out a little bag and offering it to Hilde without looking at her. She doesn’t seem upset, luckily.  

“Uh, we’re here for the-“

“Wedding, yes, we know! Thor wanted to come and get you himself, but there had to be last-minute adjustments to his robes which he had to be present for.”

Everybody nods in understanding. After all, Thor is a king. They couldn’t expect the guy to just drop everything and come and pick up his friends. It’s still weird, in a way, to have two king-friends now.

As it turns out, the Wakandans are there already. Peter is quickly greeted by Shuri, who gives him a sad look and another promise that she’ll figure this out. When she suggests to Tony and May that it would help bringing Peter to Wakanda, neither of them seems to hesitate on it. Peter doesn’t listen as they try to work something out.

They’re brought to large chambers. Each pair gets their own room, and others are sharing. Peter finds himself sharing with Shuri, which he doesn’t mind – though he’s also not excited about. Holy shit he just wants to go to sleep. For an entire year. Maybe just forever.

Shit that went too dark too fast.

The next person that comes into the big hall they’ve all assembled in to is Jane. The woman, dressed completely different from every other Asgardian walking around, she resembles more like the guests, who are obviously curious as to what exactly the dress-code will become.

“Hi, everybody!” Jane greets them all, waving awkwardly. Peter realizes that May doesn’t know the woman, yet, but he figures somebody will at least introduce her. Peter’s not really in the mood for it.

Is it obvious that he’s not in the mood for anything? He’s probably imagining the aching in his chest he’s been feeling since a few days now. Instinctively, he still presses his hand above where his heart is, massaging the sport nervously.

People congratulate Jane, ask her about the baby’s due date and how exactly they should expect the wedding to go. Peter isn’t listening at all, instead focused on the three other people that have entered the great hall.

The Avengers are still weary of Loki. Peter can’t blame him; the guy’s more like Deadpool. He can sometimes act like the hero, but he could just as easily stab you in the back. It’s just the way the guy is, and seemingly, Yaël seems to be okay with that.

She must be, since she’s walking next to the God of mischief, holding their child on her hip and searching through the crowd, probably for him. Peter doesn’t wave at her, instead waiting for her to notice him. It’s less tiring like that.

There’s a smile on her face when she notices him at last. Peter just nods at her. Smiling is hard when he feels like he’s on a constant verge of crying. He sees Yaël saying something to Loki before she, along with the baby, get through the crowd. People are looking at them curiously, recognizing her as well. But she doesn’t pay attention to them.

“Peter!” she calls out. Peter puts his hands in his pockets and walks back up to her.

“Hey,” he greets her in return. Jezus, does his voice really sound this horrible? He scrapes his throat.

“You look awful,” she states. Peter snorts, surprising himself with that reaction.

“Yeah, no shit,” he mutters out. “I don’t suppose they informed you about what happened?”

Yaël shakes her head. “Actually, Steve did. Told me you’ve hit a rough patch. For a long time they weren’t even sure you would come along.”

“I had to force myself to be here,” he admits. His eyes land on the child reaching out for him. In any normal occasion, he would have automatically taken him from her. This time, looking at Raido, all he wonders is if he could ever just get back to that childish innocence? Back to a time where he hadn’t lost so many people, hadn’t fucked up so horribly.

“He remembers you well enough,” Yaël jokes. “But I’ll spare you from holding him. I swear I might get bald with how much he likes to pull hair.”

Peter snorts again. “Looks alright to me,” he responds.

“It’s a joke, wise-ass,” Yaël counters, grinning her teeth bare. She nods to somewhere behind her. “Want to head out? Take a breather?”

Peter nods. It could do good to escape from all these people. He does consider the family, warning them about stepping out for a moment before actually going. Steve and May seem worried. Tony just nods and hugs him shortly.

“We’ll call you when they have our stuff ready.”

After that, Peter steps out of his father’s embrace and follows Yaël out of the hall. He’s aware people are looking at him in worry, afraid that he’ll collapse in any moment. But while his body might not completely feel like it, Peter’s pretty sure he can keep himself standing. Just one step at a time, Steve told him a few days ago. Keeping his eyes on the ground, he makes sure not to fall down on the ground.

If he would fall, Peter’s not really sure he can get himself back up again.

It’s close to evening already. The sun is already under, and the snow is blowing in Peter’s face. It’s somewhat nice, to have that feeling in his face. It reminds him of the fact that, despite everything, he’s still alive.

That relief quickly changes into guilt at the realization that everything’s pretty much to shit because of him.

“So, you got possessed by an Alien symbiote?” Yaël asks as they walk into some sort of garden. It’s pretty dark, but the snow on the ground is still pretty obvious. Peter lets out a long breath, seeing a cloud appear in front of his mouth. He wonders about the baby for a bit, realizing only a little later that the kid is part Frost Giant and can probably handle the temperature like this.

“Yeah, fun stuff,” Peter mutters out. He blinks twice when he sees Raido raise his hands in the air, trying to catch a snowflake. Is it him, or is the kid’s skin coloring blue? “What have you been up to?”

Yaël shrugs. “Nothing much. I’m mostly here because Raido’s currently the only heir to the throne. But even when Jane’s kid is born, the Asgardians will pretty much expect this little prince to be here often enough.”

“So you’re part of the royal family, then?”

“Not so much. The people are insisting another wedding to make sure I am, but… You know that’s not really my thing.”

Peter doesn’t respond. They get under a bower, illuminated by candles that don’t seem bothered about the snow. In the middle of the room there’s a stand, something made of rock and covered with gold and jewels. On the center of the circle, for some reason, lies a very familiar hammer.

“It’s curious, isn’t it?” Yaël asks, looking at the hammer with amusement in her eyes. Peter doesn’t say anything, sure that she’ll give an explanation anyway. “When the people arrived here, the first thing they found was Mjölnir, for some reason completely repaired.”

“How’s that possible?” Peter asks, clearing his throat again when his voice cracks once more.

“Nobody knows,” Yaël returns. “Heimdall thinks it has something to do with the heart of the dying star restoring itself. The whole deal about this hammer is still pretty much unknown to us.”

Peter stares at the hammer, never having seen it up close. For a second, he hesitates. Then he holds out his hand. When Yaël doesn’t stop him, he grabs the handle of the hammer and tries to lift it up. Much to his dismay, it doesn’t budge. Yet, he shouldn’t have been surprised…

“Don’t worry, you’re not the first who’s tried. The hammer’s in public like this, so everybody in here can try it out. The person who can wield it can help granting protection to the realm so everybody’s pretty much hoping somebody other than Thor can pick it up.”

Raido’s curiously reaching out his little hands towards the hammer, only slightly touching it when Yaël turns around a bit, getting it out of the kid’s reach. Peter follows her leaning against the hedge and looking into the garden.

“Did Steve also tell you I cheated on my girlfriend without really knowing it?”

Yaël turns to him with sad eyes. “He did,” she admits. “But if it’s relationship-advice you want, I’m really not the person you should want to talk to. More often than not I’m about ready to just kill Loki.”

 “I don’t need advice,” Peter assures her. “I don’t even need anybody to listen. I’ve been telling about my problems for days now… I just- I want it to be over…”

“Over?” Yaël asks hesitantly. Peter shrugs.

“You can take that whichever way you want,” he mutters out. He closes his eyes and takes a few deep breaths. “Listen, everything’s pretty much shit right now, and all the Avengers have been tip-toeing around me for the past few days…”

“That sucks,” Yaël mutters out. Peter snorts.

“You have no idea,” he gets out. “Just… I’m sorry if I’m not such good company in the upcoming few days. I’m already missing the rest of the semester because of this stupid disease in my head.”

There’s a hand on his shoulder. When Peter turns around, his eyes meet Yaël’s. It’s weird; where he had known her eyes as almost golden all the time, now they are grey. It’s taken some getting used to in the beginning.

“Hey, I don’t blame you,” Yaël says. “I mean, you’re a Stark. Your social skills already leave much to be desired.”

Peter snorts again. Of course she would have to mention that part again. He doesn’t even take insult in it, finding it rather amusing. So for the first time since Venom has left him, Peter manages a smirk. It’s small, barely even there, but it’s probably a breakthrough! One May, Steve or Tony should have seen.

When they’ve been outside for almost twenty minutes, another sound comes up. It’s an aircraft, from the sounds of it. Peter figures the Guardians must have arrived, perhaps. With a short look at Yaël, the three of them start heading towards the landed aircraft.

By the time they get there, a couple of the Avengers are already there. The Guardians are already out, talking to the others. There’s Gamora and Nebula, in conversation with Natasha and Hilde. Then there’s Quill with Tony and Steve. Rocket is once again trying to convince Bucky to hand over his arm – without much success, though. Draxx, Mantis and Groot are mostly just standing there awkwardly, unknowing of who to talk to. That is, until Groot notices Yaël and Raido and creates a flower to give to them. Yaël smiles at the walking tree, getting a smile in return.

“Ah, there’s my name-buddy!” Quill calls out the moment he spots Peter. The boy takes a deep breath before rejoining the other people. He walks passed the three, barely even noticing the small ‘Hi Peter’ coming from Gamora. Once he’s standing in front of Quill, the guy pulls him into a strong hug.

Peter gasps for air, surprised at the strength StarLord is showing here.

“Hey, Mantis! Care to help us out here for a bit?” Quill suddenly asks. The girl in question turns her head in surprise. She’s visibly shivering from the cold, but without complaining she walks up to them.

“What is it?” she asks, still with that strong accent on her words.

“My buddy Peter here has been feeling down. You think you could boost him up at least for the wedding?”

Mantis blinks once, those large black eyes seeming confused. Then, before she can even reach out her hand, Lady Sif interrupts them.

“Not that we don’t like happy reunions, but I’m sure it’s warmer inside than here,” she assures them. Tony and Steve laugh, and the other nod before starting their way back inside. A short look at Yaël and he finds her nodding towards the great hall again, where Peter’s headed to.

“I suppose there’s dinner before we all go to bed,” she explains once she’s once again walking beside him. Peter nods lightly. He’s not feeling hungry, and wonders if he can just be excused from it. He’s pretty sure everybody’s going to object on that, insisting that he stays with them. But, to be fair, Peter’s hitting his limit here.

“Hey, uh… do you mind telling the others I’m just heading to bed?” Peter asks carefully. Yaël turns towards him with surprise in her eyes.

“You sure? Asgardian food is really good, you know?”

Peter nods. “I’m sure. I can’t- it’s all been too much already, today.”

Yaël sighs but then leans forward to kiss his cheek. “You just get the rest you need. I’ll warn the others.”

Peter nods. Remembering the way back to his room, Peter walks back with heavy steps. He bumps up against almost every wall, and his eyes are drooping shut. If he’s not careful, he might even fall asleep on the spot. That’s not advisable.

He doesn’t even bother to change back into his own clothes. Peter throws himself down on the bed, face down in to the pillow. The coat is actually rather uncomfortable, and it stings in some spots. But Peter doesn’t care.

Too bad the others don’t seem to agree. The door opens again all of the sudden. There’s light footsteps, and then a hand on his shoulder.

“C’mon, son, let’s get you changed,” Tony says carefully. Peter groans against the pillow, shaking his head.

“Noooo,” he calls out into the pillow, his voice muffled because of it. Tony isn’t having any of it, though. He rolls Peter over until he’s on his back, and then he grabs his arm.

“You are getting changed, and after that you can go to sleep,” the man warns him. Aching all over his body, Peter groans when he listens and forces himself back on his feet. It should be embarrassing that Tony is helping him get dressed, but with how heavy his limbs are feeling Peter’s pretty sure he couldn’t have done this on his own.

By the time he’s finally back under the covers, Tony’s already taken place on the bed as well. There’s enough place for both of them, but still Tony has banished himself to the far corner of the mattress. With his hand in Peter’s hair, the boy starts drooping off.

He’s barely aware of another door opening, barely aware of the whisperings around him – though he can’t understand what they’re saying. He’s probably too tired to even question the shifting on the bed, of the two sudden hands against his head. A girl lets out a sad sob, tries to take a few deep breaths.

She’s saying something, but what, Peter can’t understand. It doesn’t matter, anyway. Slowly, the darkness starts surrounding him, but the further he drifts away into sleep, the less heavy his body gets, until, eventually, he’s feeling like he’ s flying into the sky.

The next day, Peter feels a whole lot stronger for some reason. He gets some breakfast in, greets everybody and ignores the curious looks he’s getting from the others.

That afternoon, Thor and Jane get married.

That evening, Tony receives notification that somebody is trying to break into the tower using Peter’s identification card.


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aye, I missed my own deadline. I guess I've been trying to take too much on my plate and I kinda broke down when it came to writing. But after this chapter, there's only two more to go!  
> Now I'm just about ready to sleep, I've almost fallen asleep three times in the past half hour, so it's probably time. My bed is already inviting me back in!  
> CHAPTER WARNINGS  
> \- Depression, mentions of depression  
> \- Mentions of panic attacks  
> \- Things are happening

“I can’t believe it.”

A suitcase is being thrown into the quinjet, quickly followed by another. Then, somebody steps on board.

“ _One week_ , just _one_ week is all I asked for, but do I get it? Nooooo!”

“Tony, calm down-“

“No, I’m not going to calm down! Because somebody broke into my house, Steve! Somebody stole our son’s pass and bypassed security!”

“But you already raised the alarms and security is already on the way-“

“That doesn’t defeat the fact that somebody _broke into my home_!”

“Tony, I think you’re slightly overreacting! According to FRIDAY, the intruder didn’t stay in your workshop for more than three minutes before the bots forced them out.”

“Yeah, my workshop,” Tony drops down on the flying seat, activating all the controls and letting the aircraft warm up for a good lift-off. “You know, that place where _Venom_ was stored away until we knew how to deal with it!”

Silence from Steve. Somebody else behind him speaks.

“Shit,” Rhodey says.

Not all the Avengers are currently in the Quinjet. Steve had assured them all that they should stay there and enjoy the break for a bit. Asgardian food is _really_ delicious, Tony realizes by now. Of course, he would have loved to stay a bit longer, spend some quality time with Steve, watch his son get better under the hand of Mantis.

But, of course, he can’t catch a break. So he decides to head back. Steve followed him all the way back. So did Rhodey and Bruce. And, of course, nobody should forget Peter, who now has a Mantis tagging along the entire time to make sure that he’s still alright.

Yeah, great trip, Tony grumpily thinks to himself. Just one stupid week, that’s all he asked!

“Did you get any security footage?” Peter asks from behind him. Tony grunts, projecting the images on the screen in front of them. He doesn’t look up, seeing them all in his mind anyway. A couple of confused grunts come from the people around him as they watch a black and white blur move swiftly.

“When did you lose your card?” Tony asks Peter.

“Uh, I didn’t. I left it in my bedroom. I don’t carry it along as much since FRIDAY usually lets me in.”

“Has anybody been in your bedroom lately?” Tony continues. Peter shakes his head in confusion. Who was the last person he took along inside his room?

“Uh, yeah,” he mutters out, then. “Back when the Black Cat and I almost- you know?”

There’s a silence, lasting a couple of seconds before Tony calls out ‘fucking shit and starts pushing some more buttons. “What’s the damage, Friday?” Tony asks.

“ _So far close to none, though the intruder is still in the building. They’re trying to find a way out_.”

“Tony what’s going on?” Steve asks in worry. Tony just grunts, closing the hatch of the jet and forcing the aircraft into the air. They didn’t even get to say goodbye to the others, but that hardly matters. There’ll be other times for them to go to New Asgard. And sure, it sucks that it’s now because they’ve got everybody together again since the war, but Tony can’t in his good conscience stay here knowing that something is risking Venom to escape again.

You know, Venom, that monster, that parasite, that got his son in such a horrible state that they would need an _alien_ to help lift his spirits one day at a time. Not to mention the toll it takes on her, seeing as she feels everything Peter does. The first time Mantis had agreed to help Peter, back when the kid was about to fall asleep, she had cried it out, sobbed through tears and reached for her chest as she felt through what Peter felt.  

It was horrible to watch.

“Tony?” Steve repeats when Tony doesn’t answer.

“Remember when you asked me if I was afraid the Black Cat would try to break into the tower?”

“Yeah?” Steve agrees, realization only dawning on him then. “Oh, I get it. You’re afraid she’s going to try and steal your stuff and sell it afterwards?”

“There’s some powerful weapons in there, things from back in the day where we were still a weapon’s factory! It’s too dangerous in other people’s hands!”

He feels horrible in all ways. Being connected to FRIDAY like this, to the actual entire tower, Tony feels violated in many ways. There’s an intruder in the thing that feels like another part of his body. It’s unwanted, it’s probably causing lots of damage. And, as far as Tony knows, the girl still hasn’t found her way out. He’s making sure of that.

“How long until we get there?” Steve asks, leaning forward to look along through the window.

“Normally? About four hours,” Tony explains. Steve nods.

“Make it three,” he says shortly. Tony looks up shortly before nodding.

“You heard the man, FRI, let’s go ‘Flash’ with this piece of metal,” Tony says, and after that, the craft speeds up quicker than ever before.

 

* * *

 

 

Venom is gone. It’s such a big letdown that it takes a few minutes for anybody to start talking.

The first one who speaks is Tony. Tony, who just cries out a loud ‘shit’ and throws his chair across the room to where Venom used to be. Now, there’s only a broken container. Probably, it got tipped over by accident. Or Venom was trying to get the Black Cat’s attention and she freed it to find out what it was. Either way, she fucked them over in so many ways that even Peter finds it difficult to breathe.

It’s still out there. It could still be in the tower! Is it possible? Could FRIDAY sense it?

“Peter, are you alright?”

Peter turns around, noticing Mantis looking at him worriedly. Her big eyes are opened so large they almost appear bigger than her entire face. But she’s looking down, at Peter’s hands, who are apparently about to break the desk underneath his fingers.

After a quick breath, Peter lets go of the table. He lifts up his hands in the air and tries to count back to ten.

“I’m fine,” he assures her. He’s not fine, and she knows it. But, right now, fine is probably accurate enough in comparison to how he has been feeling the entire past week. It’s not as if half a day with Mantis will cure him immediately.

“The Guardians told us they’ll come back to the tower by the end of the week. The others are fine, but worried.”

Peter turns towards Rhodey, who is reading this from his phone. Tony doesn’t respond. The man is looking at the broken cage, probably finding multiple ways to blame himself again for this. But, to be fair, a glass container probably wasn’t the best idea for such a foe. Never mind the reinforced glass.

“Tony?” Steve asks, obviously worried at his partner’s silence. Tony lets out a loud sigh, turning back towards Steve with dark, expressive eyes.

“We need to find him,” he states.

“Tony, he’s probably long gone by now,” Steve adds. Tony shakes his head.

“According to my data, he only escaped about an hour ago. As if my weapons on the streets aren’t enough, now there’s a leeching symbiote out there that acts as a parasite towards people…”

“Alright,” Bruce says. “We’ll call up a search party, but other than that I suggest we all just calm down for a bit, catch up on some sleep.”

“No way, each step it gets further from us is a step too much,” Tony counters. Peter can see Steve sigh and put his hand on the man’s shoulder to calm him down a bit.

“Relax a bit, dear,” Steve asks of him. Tony pushes his arm off, putting his hands in his hair and looking at the workshop in despair.

“FRI, lock up the tower. Nothing gets in or out until I say so,” Tony mutters out. He starts walking forward, where to, Peter doesn’t know. He doesn’t get far, since Steve grabs his hand, and stops him in his step.

“And what are you going to do, then? Lock us all up? That doesn’t help the problem,” Steve assures Tony, who looks like he’s at the verge of another panic attack. Peter can understand the reaction, and he’s glad that Steve’s there to calm him down a bit. Or try at it, at least.

“It can’t get to Peter again, Steve!” Tony calls out, his voice sounding desperate. Steve sighs, grabbing a hold of both of Tony’s arms and making him turn until they’re staring at each other.

“I don’t think it will,” Steve says. “Peter knows how to get rid of it, he rejected it. Venom won’t risk being cast out again. He’s surely going to look for another host.”

Tony shudders visibly. Steve looks at him sadly before pulling him into his arms, into a strong embrace. Kissing him on the head, his eyes meet the others.

“The tower remains open. We’ll search the city. Spread out in groups of two for now.”

Rhodey, Bruce, Mantis and Peter nod. May looks a bit unsure, though she, too, gets out a nod eventually. It’s unspoken though already fact that she’ll be teamed up with Rhodey. To defend herself, Tony gives her a gun for stunning.

Bruce joins Tony. Steve goes alone. Everybody who has a suit is suited up. Bruce just gets some firearms meant for stunning as well. Peter and Mantis are headed to the apartment first to pick up Peter’s uniform. His _real_ uniform.

With comm-links safely tucked into their ears, they all go their own way. On their cellphones they can see who’s where.

Peter’s aware that Tony’s bringing the Fantastic Four up to date, as well as the X-Men. That’s good; the more, the merrier, he thinks. If everybody’s searching for the Symbiote, surely they’ll find it eventually, right? Too bad they don’t have any samples of it left to make a wide search through the computers for it.

He and Mantis are quiet. They don’t have a lot to say right now. Peter’s still not feeling extremely well, and Mantis knows exactly what he’s going through. Literally, since she can sense everything he feels just whenever she touches him. And while she tries to shift his emotions as much as she can, she doesn’t dare to make the shift too big, unknowing of what that could do to him.

Peter doesn’t complain. He guides her to the apartment. It’s empty as far as he knows, since Johnny’s probably still with the others of his team. The lights are out when he gets in. With a loud sigh, he takes the first few steps, throwing his bag on the couch and taking in the environment around him.

An apartment isn’t all that great without the awesome roommate, he figures. He needs to get talking to Johnny soon, make sure they get all their shit cleared out quick! While yawning, Peter starts walking to his bedroom.

“Just wait on the couch, I’ll get ready,” Peter tells Mantis, who nods and looks a bit scared. To be fair, with those big eyes she always does. It can seriously mislead the enemies, Peter figures, since she’s actually kind of bad-ass when it comes to it.

As Mantis sits down, Peter heads to his bedroom. The door is open, the inside dark. He’s got no clue how he left it before he headed back to the tower. It’s not like he pays attention to that kind of thing. Peter turns on the light, heads to his closet, and startles when he finds a figure on his bed.

“What the-?!” he calls out in surprise, jumping back. On top of the sheets, there’s a girl with familiar white hair. Her suit looks torn and ripped at some parts. Her face is slightly bloody, too. But Peter recognizes her immediately. “MANTIS!”

Mantis reacts instantly, standing at his door in just a matter of seconds. Peter hurries towards the knocked-out girl lying on the bed, kneeling down to get a good look at her. Her mask has fallen on the ground, her gloves removed as she was probably trying to do something that needed them off. There’s a phone lying next to her face, though the screen is dark.

“F- Felicia?” Peter mutters out, recognizing her instantly without the mask. He’s not sure it’s her; Felicia has dark hair and blue eyes, no? But, then again, didn’t he notice her wearing contacts a while back? Is Felicia even real?

Peter puts a hand on her cheek, trying to turn her head so he can listen to her breathing. After confirming that she is in fact still getting her air, he leans back a bit in relief. It’s then that he notices something in her hand.

It’s his badge…? Did she come back here to return it? Did she pass out before she could even do it?

Mantis is already on her way to close the window – which she probably used to get inside. Then she kneels down next to Peter and reaches out for her.

“Wake up,” Mantis whispers towards her, and slowly but surely, Felicia’s eyes open up. She blinks a few times, getting out of her slumber. She looks horrible and exhausted.

“P-Peter?” Felicia asks, her voice hoarse. She grunts painfully while trying to turn her head. Once her eyes meet Peter’s, she holds up a hand and puts it on his cheek. “You’re back.”

“What happened to you?” Peter asks, surprised by how hurt his own voice can sound. Felicia just snorts before shaking her head.

“I fell off the tower trying to evade the security,” she admits. She probably already knows they’re all aware it was her all along. “I think I broke a window. I’m not all that sure of what happened.”

“What happened with Venom?” Peter asks. They can’t beat around the bush right now. Felicia needs her rest, and Peter needs to find out what happened to the symbiote before it possesses another person.

“The black goo?” she asks. Peter nods. Then she sighs. “It startled me. I accidentally tipped it over when I bumped into one of your bots. Then it got on me and didn’t come off until I was outside.” Painfully, she tries to shift a bit on the bed.

“It’s no longer on you?” Peter asks. Felicia shakes her head.

“He- he wanted revenge on you. I wouldn’t co-operate so he went to find someone who would give him less resistance.” Felicia closes her eyes again. “I’m sorry, Peter. For everything.” The hand on Peter’s cheek drops down.

“Why did you do it, Felicia?” Peter asks, his chest aching at the idea that a friend, someone he thought he could trust, would do this. She just turns back to him, her green eyes almost glowing in the light.

“At first you were a mission,” she admits. “I knew you were Stark’s son, and that you were Spider-Man. I needed the tech, needed the money that was promised me for it. But I never meant to actually fall for you.”

“Fel… I’m sorry but that wasn’t me…” Peter feels horrible for telling her this. She just chuckles, looking back up.

“I know now. I heard the thing’s thoughts while it possessed me.” She lets out a cough. “I guess I was a bit of a fool to believe you would ever choose me over MJ.”

Peter stays silent. He can’t help but feel so extremely guilty over it. Quietly, he looks back up at Mantis, who seems to understand completely what’s going on. Peter scrapes his throat.

“Mantis, can you get her to the hospital?” Peter asks. Felicia starts sitting up in objection.

“No! I don’t need to-“

“You fell off a freaking _Tower_! You _do_ need to have yourself checked at.” Peter gets on his feet and starts searching through his closet. Then, he pulls out a couple of clothes and throws them on the bed. “Put these on, leave the suit here. And let me know what the doctors say.”

Felicia gives him a long look. Mantis, too, stares at him, though with a completely different expression.

“I’m not sure I should leave you alone, Peter,” Mantis starts. Peter just shakes his head.

“I’m fine, I can handle myself,” Peter assures her. “Just- hurry!”

Mantis hesitates for only a few seconds more before she moves into action. Helping Felicia out of the suit and into Peter’s clothes, she guides her through the apartment and helps her down. Peter watches out the window as they get into a taxi and drive off. It must be a weird evening for the driver, since there’s an actual member of the Guardians of the Galaxy in their car.

Peter sighs again. He’s surely going to get it from his father now…

Feeling tired all over his body, Peter curses internally as he digs into his closet in search for the suit. He feels guilty for having forgotten about it in the past few weeks. The mask looking at him like it’s blaming him for being forgotten the entire time. Peter shakes his head, deciding to best just get the show on the road.

It’s familiar, putting on the old suit. Peter is greeted by Karen’s cheerful voice once more, getting the message that he needs to wait so the suit can install some updates. Peter resists the need to roll his eyes at that; he would have thought his Dad would make things that didn’t need so many updates, no?

So while Peter slumps towards the kitchen to get a glass of water, he almost jumps into the air when there’s a knock on the door.

Could it be Venom? Is it actually possible that the thing would seek out Peter in search for a fight? Peter hesitates for a few seconds, wondering if it’s a good idea to open the door. He’s frozen on the spot, unknowing of what he should do.

“ _Peter? Are you home?”_

Wait a minute… that’s…

“Harry?!” Peter calls out, suddenly running towards the door and opening it. Once he’s faced with his best friend, a strong gasp escapes his lungs. “What are you- how are you- when did you-?” No sentence manages to be formed. Harry just smiles at him, though it’s not the usual playful smirk.

“I hear from MJ who heard from Felicia, who heard from Johnny who I think heard from May that you weren’t doing so hot, so I figured I’d come back and help bring my best friend back on his feet,” Harry says, shrugging like it’s not that big a deal. Then he looks down at Peter’s entire form. “You were heading out?”

Peter nods. “Yeah, but… I mean, when did you even-?”

“I landed in New York about an hour ago or so. Traffic is still murder, despite the best chauffeurs coming to pick you up,” Harry explains.  “So, what’s going on? MJ said you’ve broken up? And apparently something about a guy planning to kick your ass for embarrassing him at a party while also having stolen his girlfriend?”

Peter sags his shoulders, suddenly ashamed. “That first part’s true I’m afraid, though I do have a very reasonable explanation for it. As for that second part; who is kicking my ass?”

Harry just shrugs. “She said something about an Eddie? Something about him searching you out for the entire week but not finding you? Apparently, he’s branding you a coward for ‘running away from his fist’ or something like that.”

“Huh,” Peter mutters out. “I can barely even remember hitting him, but I guess being drunk can factor into that. Or, it’s also possibly Venom.”

“Venom?” Harry asks, confused. Peter shrugs.

“Kind of the reason I cheated on MJ. It’s an alien that kind of possessed me at some times, making me do things I didn’t really remember and wouldn’t normally do. Besides that, it mostly also turned me into the standard college student who parties more than they should study.”

Harry has his eyebrows raised, obviously surprised at Peter’s admission. To be fair, it sounds like the exact opposite of his entire personality!

“Damn, Peter… why didn’t you tell me about this?” Harry asks. Peter shrugs again.

“I don’t know. I’ve been crap at keeping contact. Haven’t called Ned much, either, even though he’s texted me a lot… Heck, I’ve barely been talking to May since I went to college… That’s how much Venom fucked me up!”

“Holy shit, dude, you not calling May? Yeah, that’s not like you.”

Peter blinks, looking at his mask in his hands. Then, indicating for Harry to wat, Peter quickly rolls it over his head, looking at the screens in front of him.

“Karen, you finished?” he asks.

“ _Yes, Peter, everything has been updated to normal settings, though I feel the need to remind you to keep the suit in regular use to avoid having to download multiple things at one.”_

“Yeah, sure, I’ll keep that in mind.” Peter turns towards Harry. “Have the others made any progress on finding Venom so far?”

“ _No, they have found nothing so far_ ,” Karen explains. “ _Do you wish for me to tell them about your whereabouts?”_

“Yeah, sure, they’re always constantly worried anyway,” Peter mutters. He gets on his feet and nods towards the door. “Hey, pal, care to help me on this search party?”

Harry’s eyes widen, his mouth falling open as his breath catches. “Me? On a mission? Avengers-mission?”

Peter waves his hand a bit. “Eh, give or take. Just a couple of them. The rest is still in New Asgard to celebrate the royal wedding.”

“Thor got married?!” Peter doesn’t answer. He heads for the door, expecting Harry will follow him either way. He locks up, hiding the key in the inner pocket of the suit. Then he nods once again towards the stairs. The elevator still doesn’t work.

“C’mon,” he says. “Let’s find that bastard.”

Harry’s still confused, but he does follow after Peter. Looking a bit awkward walking next to Spider-Man, Harry tries to talk about whatever he’s seen in Paris. Sure, he’s here to cheer Peter up, but he wouldn’t be Harry if he didn’t start talking about how his life has been so far. It’s what makes him Harry, after all.

Besides, Peter doesn’t want to talk about himself. He’s done that enough, he’s tired of it. It’s rather nice to listen to Harry, for one.

They walk around the city for about an hour. Peter divides his attention to listening to Harry and looking for Venom at the same time. He can hear the other Avengers in his ear. Tony and Bruce aren’t too successful, though they’re constantly trying to assess where Peter is. Steve, Rhodey and May don’t have much luck, either. Peter figures New York is pretty big, after all.

Peter explains to the others what exactly Felicia told him. He kept out the detail that Mantis took her to the hospital. He doesn’t need their freaking out, after all. Of course, when he tells them that Venom is planning on getting revenge on Peter, Tony and May are about the first ones to start freaking out.

“ _I don’t want you on the streets anymore, Peter!”_ Tony calls out.

“ _Why don’t you just go back to the tower and wait this one out, huh?”_ May suggests. Peter rolls his eyes.

“Hell, no! I’m doing this!” he returns. Harry snorts and nods. As Peter starts to explain where he currently is, he hears something in his ear. It’s Rhodey and May.

“ _We’ve got something!”_ the pilot says. Peter tenses upon hearing it. “ _Okay, I’ll go check it out.”_

“ _Where are you?”_ Steve asks. Rhodey clarifies his exact location, followed by a confirmation that the others will go to him quickly. Before Peter can repeat that, he realizes that by doing so, he would make obvious that Mantis is no longer with him. And, sure, he’s not exactly alone, but Harry’s not into the action. He’s chosen a simple life for a reason, despite being stronger than the average person. Peter doesn’t want to drag him into this.

He hears everything happen in his ears. Tony and Bruce flying over to their exact location, followed by Steve reaching them eventually, as well. It’s like watching a movie with your eyes closed, Peter can hear everybody say what they’re going to do, can hear rustling and breathing in his ears. While he passes a look with Harry, the two of them go to stand against a wall, eyes stuck on the empty street in front of them.

They’re making a plan of attack. Peter’s not all too sure about it. For a reason, he’s glad he’s all the way over here, while they’re all in a whole other part of the city. The others are probably right; he’s not ready to get back into a fight. He’s too distracted, too low in his head. Peter looks up at Harry and nods to indicate that they should keep moving.

“What are they doing now?” Harry asks.

“They’ve located Venom,” Peter explains. “They’re going to ambush it – May and Bruce are staying outside just in case it escapes.”

“Alright,” Harry returns. With his hands in his pockets, he walks beside Peter. They go on for a bit further until they get in the shopping district. It’s closed, of course, with it being evening. It’s dark out, the sun already low below the ground. It’s probably almost morning in New Asgard!

“So, uh, how’s the food in-“ Peter can’t finish his sentence. His ear is suddenly filled with loud noises; an explosion, of sorts. He reaches for his ears, head feeling like it’s splitting apart. Meanwhile, under his feet, he’s pretty sure he can feel the ground shaking. Startled, he looks up to Harry who gives him the exact same worried expression.

“What the-?” Peter asks. They start running through Manhattan, making their way to Times Square. Peter knows that, if there’s something important happening there, it’s almost surely broadcasted live back there. Harry’s right beside him, running just as fast as him. Peter’s glad for it, for Harry being here. Sure, he’s not always the best at being supportive, but he shows it in those grand gestures.

Gestures like giving up your vacation through Europe and coming back to New York to just hang out with your best friend. Peter hates himself for neglecting his friendship with Harry lately. And Ned. The poor guy, he’s probably working his ass off at MIT to be the best of the class, and Peter can’t even think about picking up the phone.

Once they get to Times Square, a whole lot of people are already standing close together. They wait for the screens to light up. A helicopter flies over them, though to where, Peter has no idea.

“Guys, are you there?” he asks through the comm.

“ _Peter, it was a trap!”_ May shouts in Peter’s ear. “ _The building’s collapsed, they’re all underneath!”_

Shit! Peter looks down at his hands, realizing that he doesn’t know if he could be able to lift up the damn building and get his family out.

“ _It was a bomb. A good one, very much hidden,”_ Bruce adds. “ _We’re trying to figure out a way out for them. Where are you now?”_

“Uh, Times Square trying to get some footage on you guys,” Peter explains.

“ _Good, try to stay there for now, alright?”_  

Peter nods, though he doesn’t verbally respond. As the screens finally change from some other generic trailer or another random movie to an actual news report, Peter can see smoke and flames rising up in the air.

And a loud voice starts explaining; an explosion, there’s a possibility it’s by the hand of a terrorist, though they could also be mistaking. So far, the people missing in the rubble are Iron Man, Captain America and War Machine. Peter swallows through a lump in his throat.

Suddenly, after ten minutes of covering for the story of the explosion, instead comes up a different footage. There’s some sort of web, it seems. Black web. In it, there’s a girl. With dark, reddish hair, and familiar dark skin. Peter’s heart skips a beat when he sees her from even that distance.

“No way!” Peter mutters out. Because that’s MJ, hanging high above between two towers with nothing to defend herself with. Freaking MJ?! Anger boils up inside of Peter, and he’s just about ready to punch somebody in the face.

“ _Well, Spider-Man. I guess we should finish this,”_ somebody says though the entire city (or square) can hear it, voice sounding weird. Then, on the screen, suddenly comes a dark creature, sharp teeth coming out of its mouth. A long tongue comes out, the eternal grin mocking him in many ways.

“Venom,” Peter mutters out.

“ _Don’t forget; I know everything about you_ ,” Venom continues. He starts crawling to where MJ is lying on the webs. She doesn’t look scared, but rather pissed off as hell. “ _Look at her, you fool. How does it feel, knowing that it’s because of_ you _that she’s currently in this situation, huh?”_ Venom takes MJ’s face into his own hands, turning her so she’s looking at him.

MJ literally growls at him, snapping her teeth together in the direction of his hands. Venom pulls back, a loud laugh thundering through the square.

“ _Better hurry up before I lose my patience, Parker.”_

Peter scowls at the screen, his heart racing on maximum speed or so. His hands are balled into tight fists. Every inch of his body is begging him to go to sleep, but his brain is going on overdrive. No way, this can’t happen. Venom can’t do this.

“Jeesh, the nerve of that guy,” Harry mutters out. Once he’s turned around to check after Peter, the boy is already running.

“JUST STAY PUT AND STAY OUT OF TROUBLE!” Peter shouts after him. If it’s a showdown Venom wants, then it’s a showdown he’ll get.

So Peter starts running as fast as he can, and while his lungs are hurting or his entire body is hating himself right now for doing so much effort, he keeps on going.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll give you the wedding! It's going to be there in a timestamp! I just didn't really want to write it down in either Tony's or Peter's POV. But I promise you, you'll all get the wedding even the Guardians of the Galaxy travelled across the Galaxy for!


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go! I don't know what came over me, but something towards the end of the chapter came out of my fingers before I even really realized it. I never intended to go that way when I wrote down the baseline of the story, but on the other hand it made perfect sense to me.  
> I have yet to watch Infinity War (tomorrow), but I'm glad I got to finish the story before I went to see it. Sadly, I didn't get to make my own two deadlines (being the 25th and the 27th) due to my lack of realization that I work in a hospital and don't have the freaking time to write as much as in the weekends!  
> Anyway, here you go, I hope it doesn't suck too much. I'm not the greatest at writing action sequences. I usually rather gloss over fights, but since it's the final boss I suppose I couldn't skip this one.  
> Chapter warnings:  
> \- Violence  
> \- Implied hearing damage  
> \- Peter thinking he's going to die

Peter’s watched a lot of superhero movies in his childhood. The hype for him mostly started with his parents showing him cartoons of the Justice League fighting their way to peace. Peter’s favorite character had been the Batman; he was just an ordinary guy, using tech to fit the team.

When Tony Stark announced to the world that he was in fact Iron Man, it was like the Batman came to life for Peter. Much to his Aunt’s and Uncle’s annoyance, Peter began to adore the man. He never knew what part Tony Stark had meant into Peter’s past, nor did he know his mother used to be friends with him. To him, Tony Stark was just a figure on the TV, a real-life superhero. And so, Peter managed to convince May and Ben to get him the merch, and he managed to get a spot at the Expo (granted, that didn’t turn out well, but it was still amazing for Peter; Being rescued by Iron Man? Hell yeah!).

The rescuing of a loved one is a reoccurring theme in the movies Peter’s watched over the years. Batman had it with his girl in the first two movies, Superman was constantly having to save Lois Lane. But everybody always knew the hero would make it. At least, they mostly did. There is one movie where the girl dies. And that’s the movie that convinced Peter that the girlfriends should never know about the guy being a superhero.

Peter told Gwen immediately. He didn’t know why, he just needed to confide in someone, he felt alone in this whole ordeal. So Gwen was the first person he showed it to. She was a science-geek, she probably could help figure it out.

But she got herself into danger because of it. She refused to stay behind at the most crucial of times. And what happened in the Batman movie, happened to Peter in real life.

Movies don’t always manage to show the fear the heroes feel whenever a love-interest is lost. They make it look like it’s a short pain, and then they do a fast forward to show that the hero eventually is fine. But life’s not like that. It took Peter months, more than a year to finally feel a little bit more like himself after Gwen’s death. Is he over it? Hell no, that’s not really going to be soon, either. But it’s manageable.

Now, running to avoid the same thing happening again, Peter can’t help but hate every action he’s made so far. He shouldn’t have done it, shouldn’t have gone through with this thing with MJ. Because the villain eventually _does_ find out – especially when the villain is a symbiote that used to possess you for weeks. And when they find out, they’ll do stupid things to lure the hero to their scene for the battle.

Peter’s heart is racing in his chest, his arms aching from the constant swinging. Venom seems to have favored a construction site for the showdown. Peter can see the web where MJ is currently stuck, high between the tops of two near towers. A fall like that would mean her death before she even gets to the ground.

Suddenly, Peter stops. His eyes are glued to that spot above him, but his mind has come to a sudden stop. He’s been in this kind of situation before. It didn’t work out well, and he’s sure it’s not going to work out well this time, either. He’s not at the top of his game; he’s lost a lot of strength and speed now that the black suit is gone. His senses are dulled because of the past few days. He’s alone, his body tired, and because of his failure MJ is going to die.

Peter falls to the ground. He groans painfully, rolling onto his back, tears in his eyes. He can’t make it, he’ll fail. Karen is giving him updates of the current situation with the others, but it’s hopeless. They’re all stuck somewhere, his dad is knocked out and Steve can’t seem to wake him up. For once, Peter wouldn’t mind just being stuck on the sideline, unable to help. Because now, he’s right in the middle of it, and he’s very much still not capable of pulling through.

“Peter! I know you’re near!” a voice sings out. It sounds vaguely familiar, but not like from somebody he’s talked to a lot. Carefully, Peter rolls back on his side, forcing himself back on his feet.

He can’t let MJ down like this. She’s probably up there, scared to death – or knowing her she’s throwing multiple curses at Venom and has almost managed to escape multiple times before being tied down again. Peter can’t leave her like this. So he starts running again, fighting through the tears in his eyes. There’s something heavy in his throat, almost preventing him from breathing.

Peter runs and runs, forgetting that he can swing. He goes so fast that he doesn’t even have time to avoid Eddie Brock on the path.

He falls down on the ground, throwing Eddie off his feet and making him fly slightly into the air before he, too, hits the ground. He makes a painful sound.

“Eddie! Oh my God, what are you doing here?!” Peter asks, not even bothering to think about the fact that Spider-Man shouldn’t know Eddie. The jock just chuckles slightly before shaking his head.

“I’m not sure, I woke up somewhere in an alleyway and I’m trying to get out,” Eddie responds. He slowly gets back up, shaking his aching shoulders loose before turning back towards Peter. His blue eyes meet his (behind the mask) and he gives him a light smile. “You’re the Spider-Man, aren’t you? The real one?”

Peter nods. “Listen, Eddie, you need to get out of here as fast as you can. There’s something extremely dangerous running around here, and I’m pretty sure it’s the reason why you’re here.”

“Huh, how so?” Eddie asks, confused.

“You woke up here without knowing how you got here? I’m pretty sure that Venom possessed you and used your body to travel all the way here. But… if he’s let go of you, that probably means-“

Peter looks up, suddenly fearing for MJ even more. Is she even still in the web? If she is, it’s most probably a trap. Venom wants Peter to reach her, and when he’s there she’ll attack under his influence. It’s just about the cruelest thing to do! That’s like making a brainwashed Steve kill Tony and let him suffer the aftermath on his own!

“Peter, what’s wrong?” Eddie asks. He sounds on the edge, which is good. He’ll just use that stress to get his ass out of here, Peter hopes.

“Go, Eddie! Get out of here!” Peter shouts at him. He doesn’t wait to see if he actually follows through, instead jumping into the air and webbing himself up against another building. Then, using even more web, he slings towards the next building. It takes a couple of seconds for him to finally reach the top of the building. Then, carefully, he inches closer to the web, taking in the situation in front of him.

His Spider-Sense. He should try and calm down a bit to focus on that! It’s been acting weird the entire evening, making him on edge almost permanently. Now, he needs to clear his mind. Peter closes his eyes, listens to the sounds around him, and tries to find anything off with MJ.

He can hear her. She’s breathing slightly faster than normal. He can distinguish the low cursing she’s letting out. She’s struggling, probably trying to get out of the bindings she’s currently in. Is it an act from Venom? Or is it really her?

“ _Why do you hesitate, Peter?”_

Peter startles, surprised at suddenly hearing Karen in his ears.

“Uhm, because I’m not sure if I’m walking into a trap,” Peter mutters out. “Has my dad awakened yet?”

“ _No, he’s still unconscious. Do you wish for me to call Steve?”_

Peter lets out a shaky breath. “Yes, please,” he says. He needs Steve’s guidance for a bit. Steve’s always calm and rational (in most occasions, at least), he’ll surely talk Peter through this internal panic attack he’s been having for the past hour or so.

“ _Peter?”_ comes through the comm link. It’s Steve! Peter sags in relief, feeling the tears flow over his face again. Steve must have heard him crying. “ _Peter, what’s wrong?”_

“Venom has MJ,” Peter explains through his crying. Doing this inside the mask is never a good idea. Automatically he goes to his eyes to wipe the tears away, only to realize that he can’t. “He’s got her bound in the air, but I’m not sure if I’m going to walk into a trap. He’s probably possessed her to make sure I wouldn’t fight back.”

Steve is quiet on the other side of the line. Peter wonders how it’s like on his side; unable to get out of the rubble fallen over him in the explosion, stuck with his unconscious partner who is probably the only one right now who can calculate their way out of that situation.

“ _Peter, is Mantis still with you?”_ Steve asks. Peter shakes his head.

“No, I sent her to the hospital. Felicia was hurt.” Peter presses his hand against his brow, pushing through the headache that comes with the tears. “Listen, Steve. I’m not sure I’m going to walk out after this fight; I’m significantly weaker right now, my senses are off, I’m aching all over…”

“ _Peter…”_

“Just, I need to help MJ. But… Before I go, I need you to know something. Something you need to pass along to May and Tony for me, alright?”

“ _Peter, don’t talk like-“_

“I love you guys. May was there when I felt like I didn’t have anybody left. Tony was there to fill this hole in my life that my parents made when they died. Tony took me in and treated me as his own even before he knew I was his son. And you- you’ve taken care of me as Spider-Man and Peter, even before you know the two were the same.”

“ _Of course I did, Peter,”_ Steve returns, sounding sad. “ _I love you, too, son.”_

“Can you just… tell everybody I love them?”

“ _Peter, please don’t talk like this. Don’t engage without help. We can call New Asgard, we can ask Thor to bring the team back here.”_

“We can’t keep on using that Infinity Stone,” Peter returns. He scrapes his throat, sniffs through his nose one last time, and stands up straight. “I need to go, now.”

“ _Peter, don’t-!”_

“End call.”

The silence is deafening. Peter has to use all the power in his body not to fall forward again from that massive ache in his chest. He wishes he could call May, but she forgot her phone in New Asgard. He knows this, she said so on the Quinjet, when they were back on their way here.

_Hey, you’ve fought against Thanos. Surely, Venom is going to be a walk in the park, no?_

A dark snort goes through him. No, with Thanos they were still losing massively – heck, he even died – despite having an entire team with them. Now, Peter’s completely alone, weak, and not at all in the right state of mind. Venom knows exactly what it’s doing, and that scares Peter a bit.

Peter doesn’t think. He needs to just do. So he jumps into the air, higher than he would have expected. Swiftly, he lands on the black nets Venom has put together. MJ turns her head, startled by the sudden movement. Peter prepares himself for impending doom.

“Peter, it’s a trap!” MJ calls out. Peter shakes his head.

“I know. I don’t care,” he says. He crawls up to her, reaching for her hands.

“Don’t! I’m almost free! I’ll climb to the building and get to safety. Just get out of here or he’ll get you!”

“Where is he?” Peter asks. It’s on that instant that a strong chill passes over Peter. While he’s been on edge the entire evening, this time it seems different. It’s like an immediate danger, coming closer. Steps, a person, a bit bigger build than Peter, nearing them.

“Peter Parker!” someone calls out. And it immediately clicks.

Eddie called him ‘Peter’ before Peter ran off. Eddie knew his name.

He’s not too surprised to see Eddie’s face right before receiving a strong blow on the head. As Peter’s thrown to the other building, he can feel his neck twist the wrong way. An instant feeling of nausea passes over him, and he has to pull off his mask to empty his stomach. Coughing, he finds himself angry at himself. The answer had been right in front of him, but he had been basing himself too much on movie tropes that he didn’t think about the obvious possibility.

Venom wanted revenge. Harry mentioned Eddie wanting to kick his ass. Somehow, the two met and built this plan together. How can he be so stupid?

“PETER!” MJ shouts in the background. It’s the thing that brings Peter’s mind back to the reality. Quickly, he puts the mask back, jumping to the side only to barely avoid a kick from Eddie. Eddie, who is wearing a mutated version of the black suit Peter used to have.

“Eddie, you can’t let him control you like this!”

Eddie snorts, the mask disappearing from his face again. It looks horrible, the murder that’s suddenly come in Eddie’s eyes. Peter can’t for the life of him figure out where it even comes from. He’s never had much trouble with the guy in the past, right? Sure he was almost always a part of Flash’ bullying party, but he never particularly addressed Peter on any occasion has he?

Except during that party, though Peter can’t remember that too much.

“Control me?” Eddie asks. “No, he’s not controlling me. He’s using me, much the same way _I’m_ using him.” Eddie walks forward, grabbing Peter by the suit and punching him once in the face. Peter coughs out some blood, having bitten his tongue in the process.

“Listen, Eddie, I don’t know why you suddenly hate me so much but-“

“You don’t know?” Eddie asks, sounding furious. There’s another punch in Peter’s face. MJ shouts somewhere in the distance. “Let me see; you steal my girlfriend, you get her killed – literally. Then you steal my best friend, and you humiliate me at a party where _all_ my friends are.”

Peter shakes his head. “I didn’t steal anybody!” he shouts back. “You and Gwen had already broken up! I’m not even _friends_ with Flash!”

“Did you know?” Eddie asks, ignoring Peter’s words. “Did you know somebody recorded our fight? That massive humiliation I got when you punched me a broken nose? The looks I got at school when frail, fragile little Peter Parker managed to knock me out with just one swing?”

“I didn’t know-“

“And then you disappear, just like that! You don’t go to school, you’re not at your apartment… You’re just, gone! How could I even get my payback like that?”

“Eddie, don’t-“

“I guess I should have known why you think you’re better than me. You’re a Stark, after all.” Eddie bites out that last part like it’s poison in his mouth. The idea of Peter being the son of Tony Stark obviously disgusts him.

“Please, don’t-“

Suddenly, there’s a crash. Eddie is thrown to the side with a painful grunt. Right behind the spot where he used to be is MJ, with black webs still attached to her hands, holding what looks like a metal plate she must have ripped off the roof.

“MJ,” Peter breathes out. She runs towards him, kneeling down to check him over.

“Oh my God, Peter, are you alright?” she asks. Peter leans his head forward until it’s resting against her shoulder. It’s a moment of respite before he realizes it’s not over.

“Get out of here, it’s too dangerous!”

“Don’t you have a weapon or anything I could use?” she asks. Peter shakes his head.

“I can’t give you anything!” MJ groans in frustration, turning to look at Eddie who is already on his way back up, obviously confused by the sudden blow he’s gotten.

“What is that thing?” she asks. Peter spits out some blood on the side before answering.

“That’s the thing that’s been controlling me for the past few weeks,” he says. Then he quickly turns towards her. “MJ, I know you want to help, but I already lost Gwen like this. I’m not going to lose you, too.”

MJ gives him an intense look before nodding. She stands up, her knees cracking at the movement. Then she starts running towards the door that leads to the stairs for the rooftop. Before she gets to the handle, she turns back towards him.

“Go get him, tiger,” she says shortly. Peter nods.

“I’m sorry. I love you,” he returns. MJ freezes on the spot for a moment, but then she starts running. Without responding otherwise to Peter’s confession, she’s out of danger at last. Peter breathes out in relief, glad that she’s no longer in harm’s way. The relief is short-lived. The spider-sense barely even gives him a warning before there’s another kick on the side.

There’s another grunt of pain. Peter curses at himself for being so weak. Slowly but surely he gets back on his feet, only to be tackled by Venom once again. This time, there’s no ground to land on. They’re falling into the open air, Peter trying his best to hold back Eddie’s fists while at the same time reaching his webs towards the buildings around them. He needs something, anything, that would make him stop falling.

Right when he thinks he’s got it, Venom kicks out. He’s no longer falling down, instead being pushed into an old building that’s being renovated. The glass doesn’t cut through the suit, luckily, but the crash still hurts enough for Peter to be disoriented for a bit.

“Hey asshole!” he hears somewhere in the back. Peter’s vision is still too dark to see anything, but he would recognize that voice everywhere! He rubs at his eyes, noticing that he’s lost the mask somewhere in the process. Shit, he needs to find it again! Meanwhile, there’s the sound of fighting in the background. A small explosion, somebody crashing against something.

Once he can see again, he’s startled so much he actually starts crawling backwards until his back hits the wall. In front of him stands the Goblin, hovering on his board and looking at Peter with intense eyes. His face looks normal, though, less murderous. He’s got the pointy ear-pieces, but the suit looks different in a way.

It looks like Stark-tech.

“Harry?!” Peter asks. Harry jumps off the board and holds out his hand towards Peter, giving him a wide grin.

“Hey, buddy,” he says in return. Then he looks down at the suit. It’s no longer green, now, Peter realizes. The suit is completely black, with hints of blue on certain parts at his arms and hands. “Like the new look? Your dad made it a while back, but I’ve always refused to wear it.”

“It- it looks good,” Peter admits. Harry smiles again before turning towards Venom, who is digging himself out of the hole he’s been pushed in. “So, what, you’re the Blue Goblin now?”

Harry just snorts. “Nah, I’m nobody. I’m just the guy saving your ass.”

“Who says I need saving?”

“HOW ABOUT YOU TWO KICK HIS ASS INSTEAD OF CRACKING JOKES?!” MJ shouts in the background. She’s on the stairs, still making her way down. With the walls removed, she has a perfect view of everything happening on the floor.

“MJ, get out of here!” Peter shouts.

“I WAS ON MY WAY UNTIL _SOMEBODY_ THREW A PERSON THROUGH THE WALL AND BLOCKED MY PATH!”

“She’s feisty, isn’t she?” Harry jokes. Peter can’t find it in himself to chuckle.

“Just, get back up, then!” he returns. MJ groans in frustration. Peter ignores it, walking to the side and grabbing the mask again. Once it’s back over his head, he realizes he’s missed two calls from Johnny. He can’t call him back right now; Venom’s back on his feet.

“So this is the thing we were looking for?” Harry asks. Peter nods.

“Yeah, possessing that guy you mentioned that wanted to kick my ass,” Peter clarifies. Harry hisses.

“Yikes, that’s a bitch,” he returns. He holds out his hand towards Peter. “You trust me?” he asks. Peter nods, grabbing the hand and allowing Harry to fly him up into the air. With swift movements, Harry turns them around, creating speed. Once Venom’s almost right underneath them, Harry lets go of Peter, who has his feet pointed at Eddie’s face. With a strong force, Eddie grunts out in pain as he’s knocked back on the ground. Peter makes a rollover on he ground and jumps back on his feet.

He understands venom a little bit now. Eddie’s always been strong, he’s a jock after all. But he’s not agile, not fast. Venom heightens the person’s powers, meaning that Eddie’s not as fast as Peter. The best thing he can do is keep on moving, then.

He doesn’t expect another figure to show up, then. It’s a dark blur, nearly-white hair catching the attention immediately. Peter jumps to the side right before colliding with her, eyes wide as he takes in Felicia standing in front of him. She’s once again in her suit – though a fixed one. Her mask is back on her face, and on her belt she seems to have multiple gadgets she normally doesn’t carry.

“Anybody needs help?” she asks with gritted teeth. It’s obvious to Peter that she’s still hurt from her fall off the tower.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!” Peter shouts at her. “YOU SHOULD BE AT THE HOSPITAL!”

“Relax, bug-boy! You need help even more than I do,” Felicia returns. She fishes out some sort of gun and points it at Venom, who was apparently headed their way. Then, once the thing is fired, Venom flies to the back, shuddering on the ground. Felicia laughs. “Heh, I love shocking bad guys.”

“Get out of here, Felicia!”

“No way!” she returns. Peter groans in frustration, his eyes meeting Harry’s, who just seems amused. It’s obvious that the guy knows exactly what kind of role Felicia has been playing in Peter’s life in the past few weeks.

“You know what?” Harry starts. “You got some kick-ass weapons. How about you head towards MJ and make sure she doesn’t get herself killed?”

“I’m not a babysitter!” Felicia returns angrily. The thing that had been electrifying Venom up until now seems to have run out. Venom grunts again, slowly regaining control of Eddie’s body once more.

“It’s the least you can do after ruining my relationship and using me to break into my dad’s stuff!” Peter shouts at her. Felicia’s eyes go wide at that comment. Then she scowls.

“That’s a low blow,” she mutters. “But I guess you’re right…” Felicia taps her ear then. “Comm link, join me. I need to keep contact if you want me to keep MJ away.”

The two nod, and quickly they set up a line. After that, Felicia runs towards the stairs where MJ is still looking at them. Peter feels a bit relieved when he sees her handing MJ a gun of sorts. After that, he returns back to the enemy. Venom seems pissed off now. That’s dangerous. A pissed off enemy is often unpredictable, able to do _anything_ to get what he wants.

“PARKER!” he shouts, and Peter’s not sure if it’s Venom calling out, or Eddie. They both hate him equally.

“Like, seriously, I haven’t even spent a full hour with that guy and he hates my guts so much?!” Peter complains towards Harry. “Talk about something coming right out of nowhere!”

Harry chuckles, picking Peter back up and getting the two of them back into the air.

“Tell me about it,” he chuckles. “I guess that’s what happens when you only see life through your eyes; you don’t know what happens in other people’s lives.”

“Yeah, yeah, Mr. Philosopher,” Peter mutters out. “Let’s just get the two separated without getting anybody killed.”  

“You’re much chipper than before,” Harry points out. Peter snorts.

“Yeah, I’m not alone anymore. You can’t blame me for my sudden change of behavior!”

There’s another call coming through. This time, Peter’s available of picking it up.

“Johnny, I’m a little busy at the moment!” Peter calls out.

“ _Yeah, no shit! Where are you?”_

“Uh, some renovated building somewhere in Brooklyn,” Peter explains. “Harry and Felicia are here as well.”

“ _Felicia?”_

“Yeah, it’s a long story. But I think we might need your help. Can you go to Stark Tower quickly?”

“ _Uh, yeah, why?”_

 _“_ You need to get something from my Dad’s lab!”

And Peter starts explaining his plan to his friend in the middle of being thrown into Venom once again. Harry’s pulled off his glider once or twice, but he always climbs right back up. Felicia and MJ are nowhere to be seen, which is a good thing. What was the girl even thinking, coming back here when she’s hurt the way she is!

But, Peter figures it’s what any hero would do in this occasion. Tony’s much the same. So’s Steve, Nat, even Peter. Every one of them would do the same thing.

It’s obvious that Venom starts to get tired of them. Despite the fact that Peter’s found an advantage in using his speed and being in constant movement, it also looks like he’s becoming predictable. They even each other out like this; Venom tired, but able to know what Peter’s next move will be.

When he’s grabbed by Venom again, the mask disappears, showing a breathy, exhausted Eddie looking down at him.

“You have no idea how much I despise you,” Eddie mutters out. Peter shakes his head.

“No, I don’t have an idea indeed,” Peter says. “Why do you hate me like this?”

“BECAUSE YOU STOLE GWEN FROM ME!”

Peter snorts. “You weren’t even interested in Gwen anymore. Why are you suddenly turning this into such a big deal?!”

“I was perfectly fine with you being the loser, Parker,” Eddy grunts out. He throws another punch, but Peter evades it easily, jumping out of Eddie’s hold by crawling down, sliding between his legs and jumping back up. Eddie looks confused for a second before he turns around to face him again. “I felt enough pleasure at knowing your life was miserable even more than mine was.”

“That’s dark, Eddie,” Peter mutters out. Eddie shakes his head.

“I don’t care,” he returns. “Everybody has their guilty pleasure, after all.” Eddie shoots out a web. Peter can’t avoid it quickly enough. Before he knows it, he’s pulled towards Eddie, grabbed by the suit and thrown against the ground. It’s a hard blow, pushing all the air out of Peter’s lungs as he makes painful complaining sounds. He shakes his head, trying to break free from the hold but failing at it.

“Eddie, don’t do this,” Peter continues. “You don’t know what you’re doing.”

Eddie smirks all of the sudden. “Oh, Parker, I feel like, for the first time in my life, I know exactly what I’m doing.”

Before the next blow comes, a high-pitched sound fills the room. Eddie starts shouting, pressing his hands against his ears while taking a few steps back in his struggle to fight against the sound. Peter can see the suit jumping up, fighting to stay attached to Eddie despite the loud noises.

But Peter can’t move, either. His arms are pressed against his ears; there’s no headphones to drown it out here. Nothing that can lower the effect of the sound for him. On the side, he can see Harry on the ground as well, protecting his ears.

Eddie is shouting out things. Probably asking what’s going on. But Peter can’t hear it. And even if he could, he can’t explain it. Somewhere behind Peter, at the source of the sound, there’s Johnny with headphones on. He’s holding on to the device Peter told him to bring along, directing it at Eddie without any hesitation. He looks pissed in many ways.

Eddie has fallen on the ground. He’s writhing, struggling but unable to escape. The black goo that forms the suit is jumping off and reattaching itself. Eddie’s not getting out of that on his own. Peter bites on his lip, pulling away his arms from his ears and reaching towards him.

His ears feel like they’re exploding. It hurts so much, his first instinct is to just put his arms right back and protect them. But he can’t; he needs to make sure Eddie’s out of there before Johnny can continue on their plan.

So he shoots his webs, perfectly hitting Eddie on the back. Despite feeling the blood running out of his ears, he pushes through. He pulls on the webs, feeling a lot of resistance but not giving up. His muscles complains, his head complains. Tears run through his cheeks, but he doesn’t stop.

He’s not sure if he’s screaming or not. He feels his throat, knows there’s some sort of sound coming out of his mouth, but it’s drowned under the sound of the machine Johnny brought from the lab. There’s nothing around them, nothing to distinguish the loud sound waves currently incapacitating Venom.

Once Eddie’s pulled free, Peter webs him up against the wall, making sure that he’s not going to run off.

“NOW JOHNNY!” he shouts. Or he thinks he does. He’s not sure about that at all. He doesn’t hear himself. Even when the machine is supposed to be turned off, Peter’s ears are still pretty much ringing. All he can do is watch how Johnny flames up and starts circling around Venom, putting him into a prison made of fire. The circle he forms around him becomes smaller and smaller, until there’s about no more space for Venom to move.

Venom in its true form, without a host to help him along, is probably one of the scariest sights in Peter’s memory. There’s the mask, with the teeth and the menacing eyes. The black goo its made out of haunting, forming webs and arms. But Peter figures it’s just for the show, to appear stronger and scare its opponent. Why else would it need a host, after all?

Johnny moves so fast at one point, Peter has to close his eyes from the light. He can’t see Venom being destroyed, can’t see if it works. But when he opens his eyes again, once he feels the heat disappear from his face, there’s no trace of Venom left anymore.

Peter is breathless. There’s ashes, still bits burning even though Johnny’s flames have died down. The boy is hunched forward, his hands on his knees while he regains his breath as well. His eyes meet Peter’s for an instant, and he smiles at him, holding up his thumb. Peter smiles, holding up his thumb as well before lying back down on the ground. His ears are ringing, his muscles screaming, but… it’s over.

The bad guy is defeated. MJ’s safe with Felicia, Harry’s getting back to his feet. Eddie didn’t die down in the fire with Venom.

This is a good thing. So Peter smiles, closing his eyes. He doesn’t know how long he’s lying there, but suddenly there’s a hand shaking him. Peter startles, jumping back up on his feet and immediately losing his balance.

He can see Harry telling him something, see his mouth move. But all Peter hears is this constant ringing. He frowns, pointing at his ears and shaking his head. Harry, in turn, makes a worried face and turns towards Johnny, who looks worried as well. In the back, he can see MJ and Felicia run back down, gun raised as they probably want to check out why there’s no more noise down here.

He can see them call out for him. He can’t hear it. Peter blinks a few times, pulling off his mask. Then he hands it towards Johnny, making a call-sign towards him. Johnny frowns and shakes his head in confusion. Peter rolls his eyes, standing back up and signing it again the best he can. He tests out his voice, not hearing it but feeling it anyway.

“Call Steve,” he says, or he thinks he says it. He’s not too sure. He repeats the ‘call’ gesture once again, nodding towards Johnny. The boy nods, putting on the mask and walking to the side. Peter smiles despite himself, dropping back down on the ground and putting his hands on his stomach.

He’s aware of the others looking at him in a worry. He knows they’re shocked at his sudden lack of hearing them. But Peter can’t think about that. Everybody’s alive. Venom’s gone. Peter’s fine.

For the first time in a while, he feels like he’s back in control of his own life. And it feels good. 


	26. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter warnings:   
> \- none, really!

 

_One month later_

“Peter, can you hear me?”

Peter looks up, eyes opening despite the heaviness in them. He smiles before he can even see any of the people he knows are around him. All the Avengers are here. All his friends are, too. Of course, they are; they had been here before they put Peter under, after all.

“He responded to your question, that must mean it worked, right?”

That’s Clint. Peter would recognize his voice everywhere. The first person who spoke was May, who is probably holding his hand. The moment Peter’s vision clears, he looks down, seeing that he’s in fact right about that.

May gives him a smile, looking relieved when she sees him awake. Peter, too, feels a whole lot of relief.

The past few weeks have been quite of a whirlwind. With losing his hearing due to the damage caused in their attack against Venom, Peter found himself a subject of multiple prototypes built by his own father and the princess of Wakanda. Not even for a second they’ve stopped to get some rest, working together to find the best solution there is for Peter. And they’ve tried with hearing aids, and it helped for a bit, except for the fact that they kept on falling off during battles and whenever he was swinging.

Peter isn’t exactly sure how the process went from designing these things they’ve made for him to the point where they actually performed surgery to implant them inside his head, but he’s not about to complain too much about it.

Despite everything, the relief he had felt back then when they’d finally defeated Venom, Peter realized quickly enough that the euphoria for it was pretty short-lived. After all, he had just lost his hearing in his attempt to rescue Eddie – who is now currently stuck in the psychiatric ward, having completely lost it after the battle. In any way, the heaviness that had been troubling him before was still there. With that, Mantis wasn’t yet freed of him. And sure, she keeps on assuring him that it’s fine, that she doesn’t mind helping him out, but Peter’s pretty sure that being his personal therapist can’t be that easy for her.

Otherwise, things are alright again as much as they can be. After they defeated Venom, it appeared that Tony woke back up from being knocked out and, with a few simple mathematical calculations, he managed to form a plan to get himself, Rhodey and Steve out of the collapsed building. Harry’s back in New York, staying here and starting up an education that will help him earn back his company for good. Johnny’s back in the apartment. Everything sounds just about right.

There’s only two persons missing so far. Felicia and MJ. And sure, he knows they’re not _gone_ and he could easily find them if he wants to, but he respects their wishes to stay away.

After all, he shouldn’t have expected that everything that happened there would just magically fix whatever went wrong between him and MJ. He’s not delusional!

“Peter, are you feeling any pain?” Tony asks. He’s reaching his hand forward, feeling Peter’s forehead for a few seconds. Peter shakes his head.

“No, I’m alright,” he assures them. There’s definitely too many people inside one hospital room, but it’s also kind of funny to look at. He tries to sit up a bit, extremely aware of the bandage on his head. His hair is gone, but it’s about the smallest sacrifice he could have made to get his hearing back. It’ll grow back, after all. Peter reaches up to scratch his head, try to get a feel of the bandage they’ve put on top of his wounds.

“Don’t do that,” May hisses at him, slapping his hands back down. Everybody starts laughing before somebody clears his throat.

“I’m glad the family reunion is so great, but there’s about ten people too many in this room,” the voice of Dr. Strange says. Peter sits up some more, trying to get a look at the former surgeon who walks inside. Peter remembers Strange saying that he would be present during the surgery but wouldn’t be the one performing it due to his lack of control in his fingers. That had been fine by Peter, since he wouldn’t really want somebody with shaky hands inside his brain.

“Well, then, I suppose it’s time for lunch. C’mon, team!” Clint calls out. “Bye Pete, we’ll see you in a bit!”

Peter waves at the rest of the team, smiling back at Wanda who winks at him. Once most of the people are outside, Peter feels like there’s a whole lot more air to breathe in here. Tony looks less tense, as well. Especially now that Steve is standing behind him, his hands on Tony’s shoulder.

“So, Mr. Parker, how are we feeling today?” Dr. Strange asks. Peter looks up, smiling at the man.

“I feel fine,” he admits. “Maybe a little headache, but I guess I can’t complain too much about that.”

Strange hums, walking forward and clicking something next to Peter’s ears. Probably to test his hearing with it. Peter startles, looking at the source of the sound but finding only a very small device in the doctor’s hand.

“So far your reactions to hearing are about normal, though I’m sure we’re going to need a bit more testing to find out more.” Strange writes something down on his papers before looking back at Peter. Then, he offers him a rare smile.” Welcome back, Mr. Parker.”

Peter smiles back at him, glad that they have Dr. Strange in their lives. Sure, his personality pretty much clashes with Tony’s on very occasions and he’s not exactly the guy they would invite for the holidays, but he’s still a valuable friend to have.

“Thank you, doctor,” Peter returns. Strange nods at him before turning back towards May and nodding at her as well. After that, he leaves the room. Steve then lets go of Tony’s shoulders and heads towards the door to close it again.

“So, uh any fun activities we can do?” he asks with a smile.

 

* * *

 

 

Time goes by. After many days of testing, they’ve finally deemed Peter ready to return home. They spend the holidays at the tower, much the same way they did last year. It’s fun, light, and amazing to get back in touch with all the other Carters Peter hasn’t kept in touch with due to everything happening.

But eventually, Christmas comes and goes, and so does the new year. With the new semester starting, Peter realizes that he’s going to have to start from scratch. So, he figures, he might as well just get a complete new slate.

Peter dresses up at school. Not with expensive clothes, or with designer shoes. He puts on the least remarkable outfits, and gets himself some glasses that don’t correct his sight at all. When the others ask him why he does it, he says they’ll see eventually.

Peter catches up with the classes. He might have missed a semester, but it’s still easy enough to follow. With the agreement that he’ll do those exams he’s missed anyway later in the summer holiday, Peter’s pretty sure he can finish this year easily.

MJ doesn’t talk to him. Well, she does, but she doesn’t actively seek him out. Whenever they see each other, she greets him. When Peter starts up a conversation, she doesn’t run off or curses him out. She’s friendly enough, which is probably all Peter could ask for.

As for Felicia… well, nobody really knows where she is. According to her classmates, she hasn’t been at school since the whole deal with Venom. Peter’s not sure what exactly happened, but since there have still been reports of the Black Cat wandering the streets, he figures she hasn’t completely disappeared from the world.

It’s in February when Tony announces that the rebuilding of the Compound is finally completed. A couple of the Avengers decide to move back, but Bruce, Natasha and Bucky stay in place. Harry, too, decides not to head back. Instead, he finds a place near Peter’s, and after school they mostly just hang out together. Peter also talks to Ned more, again. He finds out that Ned is doing great, and that he’ll come back for summer break where he wants to know everything about all that happened in New York. Of course, Peter tried to keep him up to date about the Venom-stuff, but it’s not always that easy to explain to a science-geek who is also about the biggest Spider-Man fanboy!

As for Mantis, after celebrating Christmas with the rest of the Avengers, she and the rest of the Guardians decided to head back. They all agreed that Peter’s doing much better, and that he doesn’t need her help anymore. She agrees, though the moment she leaves, he does make a new appointment with his psychiatrist just for good measures.

By the time March comes, everybody at school seems to have forgotten about Peter’s wild partying days. They don’t invite him anymore – Johnny doesn’t, either! – and life’s pretty much the same it used to be. The biggest change, he supposes, is Flash Thompson.

Where Flash at first hated Peter’s guts, it seems like he’s warmed up to him ever since Peter defended him from Eddie’s rage. He’s not going to complain. Sure, Flash still throws out some slurs like ‘nerd’ or ‘geek’, but it’s never meant in an insulting way, rather than teasing. Despite that, though, Flash is still pretty much a spoiled ass, of course.

As for the crime-fighting… Peter’s still no Avenger. He doesn’t want to be, either. It’s his Dad’s team, Steve’s team. Peter’s perfectly fine doing the smaller things, staying in New York where the others leave for foreign countries and help out there.

Besides, Peter’s got his own little team right here. It’s not an official thing, and by far are there any certain members. But with Harry having picked up the glider again, and Johnny having moved back in, they’ve found themselves patrolling more often lately. Johnny doesn’t go to parties as much, doesn’t bring back countless women like he used to. Harry isn’t held back by his past and has finally decided to do something with the power he’s given himself.

Peter remembers the conversation he’s had with Felicia about it. After running into her somewhere in the evening, he asked her if she wanted to join the group.

But she had declined. “I’m not a hero, Peter.”

“You can be if you want to. You have the potential,” he had assured her, but Felicia had only shaken her head.

“That’s more your thing, I think,” she told him. She leaned forward, pulled his mask back up and kissed him right on the mouth. Peter didn’t push her away, figuring he’s no longer got any reason to do so. “I have my mission,” she then continued.

“Selling weapons?”

“Freeing my father,” she clarified. “He’s in jail for a crime he didn’t do. Somebody bribed the judge. I’m going to buy his freedom back.”

Peter hadn’t found a response for that. He was actually rather surprised that she hadn’t just broken into his Dad’s accounts to just wire the money to herself, but then again, Tony would have tracked that money back just as easily.

“I’m pretty sure I’ll see you around,” Felicia had continued. “And, maybe perhaps… you would be interested in going out on a date?”

Peter had smiled at her. “Maybe, yeah.”

Felicia kissed him once again before pulling away. “If you need me, you know how to reach me.” She winked at him before disappearing.

After that, there have only been small sightings of the Black Cat over New York. As she works her way up to collecting the money to free her Dad, Peter doesn’t stop her. Neither do Johnny or Harry. They have no business in that. Besides, they have the pleasure of putting the idiots she sells her stuff to behind bars only days after they paid her. If anything, they’re actually doing her a service!

Life goes back to normal as much as possible. Sure, there are still arguments between Steve and Tony, but they’re smaller than they used to be, often talked through the very same day they occur. Tony doesn’t kick Steve out again, and Steve eventually becomes a legal owner of the tower as well. Meanwhile, May finishes the paperwork for the move. By the beginning of March, their old place is sold and everything’s moved back to the new house. It’s close to the tower, and close to Peter’s apartment, so it’s rather nice. Unofficially, Rhodey’s also kind of moved in with her. It’s good that she’s not alone, Peter figures.

Things are going alright. Life’s good again. There’s no more Venom, there’s no more dark clouds in Peter’s head. Whenever he goes to school, he does so with a smile.

And after a whole lot of thinking, he figures he’s ready.

 

* * *

 

 

Peter waits until his hair is grown back to a size long enough to hide away the scars on his head. The first person he tells is May.

May isn’t too sure about it, on most occasion expressing her doubts about his idea. But he assures her that he knows what he’s doing. So after May, he explains it all to Tony.

And Tony is quiet as he talks. He hums and nods at the right occasions, and once Peter’s finished he clears his throat before helping him come up with a plan to get this stuff together.

Peter’s not too sure how the first, initial idea came to him. It’s been there for a few years now, perhaps. The first thought of it came up when he offered that money to the homeless woman, disguised as Spider-Man. He’d wanted to help, but he couldn’t because Spider-Man wasn’t supposed to be _that_ kind of hero.

But _Peter_? He can do things Spider-Man can’t. So on a certain day in May, a day where the sun is shining and the temperature is good enough to not have to wear a coat, they call up the press conference. Peter is nervous the entire time he has to wait. He’s behind the stage; people can’t see him there. Tony’s team has prepared him for this, styled his hair and dressed him up. They made him pretty much unrecognizable from the college student Peter Parker he’s created in the past month.

And Tony talks. About the future of the company, the plans they have and the things that have happened in the past where they’ve decide to learn from. Peter’s about sure his heart is going to burst from his chest, but Steve’s there with him. So is May. The two are smiling at him, May holding him into his arms when it seems like the nerves are getting the better of him.

“Are you sure you want to do this? It’s not too late to back out now,” she explains. But Peter shakes his head.

“I need to do this,” he says. He pulls out of May’s arms and smiles at her. Then he leans forward, kissing her on the cheek. “I love you, May.”

May’s eyes tear up a bit. “I love you, too, Peter,” she returns, kissing him on the forehead. Then she looks at Steve. “We all do.”

Steve, too, leans forward and kisses Peter on the head. It’s a thing all his parents seem to like to do lately, but Peter doesn’t complain. He rather likes it when they mess with his hair, or when they’re showing affection towards him. Peter just dives into Steve’s embrace, staying there until he hears his cue.

“ _And as for our latest project, I am glad to give the word to my son; Peter Stark.”_

There’s surprised gasps before a thunderous applause rises up in the public. Peter freezes up on the spot, suddenly afraid to get on the stage. He looks back at Steve, who nods at him.

“Come on, I’ll come with you,” he says. Peter nods, and after taking a deep breath, he walks up to those stairs that lead to the stage.

 

* * *

 

 

Peter’s been addressed by a lot of people during the entire evening.

The opening of the homeless center has been a great success, he finds. With his part of the Stark fortune, Peter got together all the recourses needed to get everything they need to help the people out. There’s a large kitchen with lots of volunteers (the same volunteers as before, only this time everything they make is finally funded), and a whole lot of beds for them to sleep in during the colder nights. Other than that, there are lots of social workers who are prepared to help the people out and guide them back into the society.

There’s a whole lot more going on in the center. There’s a free clinic, a thrift shop where they can get cheap clothes, and whatever else you need. And on the day of the opening, Peter invited as many people as wanted to come and volunteer at the center.

He wouldn’t have expected the turnout.

For the entire evening, he’s swarmed by journalists, students working on school projects or volunteers who finally want to meet the son of Tony Stark. And it was scary at first, being in such a big spotlight without wearing a mask, but he figures he’s grown used to it rather quickly.

They’ve been opened for a few hours now. It’s basically a big party inside; many volunteers, the homeless all getting delicious food and sitting together telling each other jokes and stories. Peter is actually rather impressed of the Avengers having cancelled their evening plans and helping out. With Wanda, Bruce, Tony and Steve in the kitchen, Sam, Johnny, Harry, Natasha, Rhodey, Bucky, Scott and Vision serving out the food, and Hope and May staying at the entrance to collect donations, it’s rather obvious that there’s a good mood going around. In the background, Clint is bringing them good tunes on the piano, accepting suggestions from people and playing them easily.

Peter can’t help but smile the entire evening. He’s greeted by the homeless. Greeted by young people who only just found themselves on the streets after being kicked out. So many more. He listens to all their stories, agrees to go on pictures – Ned is carrying around a polaroid that prints out the photos directly. By the time it’s about ten in the evening, he figures he needs a little time-out.

So Peter walks outside. There’s a little backyard, especially put down just in case there’s good weather and they could eat outside. It’s empty there, nobody having found the place yet. It’s fine. Peter walks up to a tree on the farther side of the garden, leaning against it and looking up at the sky. He smiles spontaneously, fishing out his cellphone out of his pocket to check the time.

“Looks like you made quite an impression there.”

Peter drops the phone, jumping back up on his feet and turning towards the source of the sound. Much to his surprise, there’s MJ, dressed in an apron with messy hair. She looks very much the way she always does. Once upon a time, that might have frightened Peter. Now he only finds it endearing to her character.

“Yeah, uh… I guess I should have guessed being the son of Tony Stark would attract a lot of attention,” he jokes back hesitantly. MJ doesn’t laugh, though her eyes do have an amused sparkle in them. Instead, she comes to stand next to Peter looking up at the sky the same way he’d been doing earlier.

“Where’s your head at?” she asks. Peter sighs.

“Right now?” he returns. “Nowhere, really.”

MJ turns back to him, her dark, greenish-brown eyes looking right into his. Just, for a small moment, Peter almost expects her to lean forward for a kiss. But there’s still a slight disappointment when she doesn’t. Instead, she just studies him, suddenly reaching her hand towards his hair and passing her fingers through them.

“I prefer your Parker-hair,” she admits. Peter laughs at that.

“Yeah, but Peter Parker and Peter Stark are two completely different beings,” Peter counters. MJ pulls her hand back, letting out a sigh.

“You know, being up there, bound and almost completely at the mercy of that bad guy? I guess I realized some things.”

Peter shudders a bit. “What things?” he asks.

“You know, just the usual things. How did I get dragged into this? How am I going to make it out of this shit. How I wasn’t there for you when I clearly saw you needed my help.”

She stops talking, letting out another deep breath. Her fingers fidget together nervously.

“Em,” Peter starts, but she shakes her head.

“Listen, it’s done now. We’re past it, it happened. I guess we’ve both learned things now.”

MJ gets back on her feet, wiping the pieces of earth from her pants. Then she turns back towards Peter.

“What are you going to do?” Peter asks. MJ just snorts.

“I’m heading back inside. My break’s over, after all,” she responds. Before she starts walking, Peter jumps back up and grabs her hand to stop her.

“Em, please,” Peter mutters out. MJ turns around to face him, her eyes determined and her face sad.

“Wouldn’t that be the best cliché?” she suddenly asks. “The guy and the girl get back together in the end, and they forget everything that happened?”

Peter doesn’t respond. MJ puts her free hand on Peter’s cheek, then.

“But, where would the fun be if the girl doesn’t a least play a little hard to get?”

She grins at him, patting him on the cheek twice before turning around. Without much trouble, she frees her hand from Peter’s hold and she starts walking.

“Try asking me out next week. Maybe then I’ll say yes!”

Peter snorts. “You’re evil, you know that?” he shouts back. MJ just shows him her middle finger before disappearing back in the building. Peter chuckles again.

Well, she isn’t pissed at him anymore. He guesses that should count for something.

Quickly, Peter hurries back inside to rejoin the rest of his family.

 

* * *

 

 

**Christine:**

_Well, it seems to become a yearly tradition, doesn’t it? How have things been for the family in this past year for you guys?_

**Tony Stark:**

_To be fair, it hasn’t been our best year. But I suppose that’s what being a family is all about. I guess I’m glad that we’re through with all the secrets now._

**Peter Stark:**

_Mostly, I think this year has been crazy so far! Lots of stuff have happened, I’ve met so many people! The first time I came out in the streets and was bombarded by journalist, I almost felt like I was about to crap my pants!_

**Steve Rogers:**

_Language, Peter!_

 

**Peter Stark:**

_Oops, sorry, Steve! But, yeah, I suppose it’s been a crazy year. But, I think we’ve all come out stronger because of it._

**Christine Everheart:**

_Peter, can I ask: what suddenly changed your mind about making your name public? Is there a particular reason for that?_

**Peter Stark:**

_Well, I guess it’s obvious the Center has something to do with that. I suppose it was once when I helped an old lady cross the street, and she handed me some money. I figured I had enough money to last me a lifetime, and that there were people who needed it more. So I gave it to the first homeless person I met, and they were just so grateful. It’s ever since then that I thought about helping them in a way, but… a lot of things happened in the family and I stopped thinking about it for a while._

**Christine Everheart:**

_Which particular things distracted you from this, then?_

**Tony Stark:**

_I think that’s mostly our fault. We were brought right in the middle of the accords, and after that there was my disease. I’m afraid Peter was mostly thinking about my survival through everything._

**Christine Everheart:**

_And Mr. Rogers? How do you fit in this family picture?_

**Peter Stark:**

_I think I can answer that. Steve’s been there for me during the difficult times. He’s taken care of me, he always makes sure I’m alright, and he cares for me much like my Dad does._

**Christine Everheart:**

_But is Mr. Rogers legally assigned as your parent?_

**Steve Rogers:**

_No, I’m not. But we think that we don’t really need some legal contract to make it so. Family’s much more than just a piece of paper telling us we are so. It’s caring for each other, keeping each other safe and happy, and sometimes making place for an argument or two._

**Tony Stark:**

_Though, to be fair, we’ve dialed it down on the argument-part, haven’t we, dear?_

**Steve Rogers:**

_I guess we have._

**Peter Stark:**

_And with that, you have the proof that my parents are gross (laughs)._

**Christine Everheart:**

_Alright, I think that’s about all the time we have for this short interview. Are there any more things you would like to tell us before we wrap this up?_

**Peter Stark:**

_Yeah, uh, stay cool, don’t bully your classmates, and hope with me that one day I’ll get my own Iron Man armor (laughs)._

**Tony Stark:**

_Yeah, in your dreams, kiddo._

* * *

 

_Metro General Hospital_

May Parker doesn’t expect much trouble when she gets back to work. It’s been a bit crazy after the move, but after they’ve finally settled in, she’s feeling rather confident in getting back to work.

She greets her co-workers, glad to see everybody again. Sure, the past year has been strange with her mostly disappearing to Norway or Wakanda or many other places. Now that all that crazy stuff is finally over, she finds it’s easy to get back to the normality in life.

Or, as normal as they could be. Nothing in her life has really been normal since Peter got bitten by a radioactive spider. Especially because Peter’s just about crap in keeping a secret.

Granted, at first she simply thought he was struggling with something else. He kept on sneaking out of the house, being awkward next to her and keeping things from her. In her shame, she thought he was just afraid to admit something to her. Multiple thoughts occurred to her, one of them being that he might have been gay all along.

That suspicion had been disbanded the moment Peter returned home and introduced her to Gwen, a lovely young girl who was as pretty as she was smart. May had been happy for Peter, but it never really answered what thing Peter was hiding from her.

She figured it out one day when Peter was asleep. She had heard him sneak back into the house and was curious as to what exactly he was doing up so late. When she came into his room, he had fallen asleep on his bed instantly, the old suit thrown on the ground without much thought.

And there had been shock, and surprise, and lots of worry whenever she next saw footage of Spider-Man in the news. Especially when he had nearly been stabbed to death by the Green Goblin. But knowing that Peter has a whole force of Avengers behind his back, she’s not as worried anymore. Peter can save himself.

“Hey, May!” one of her colleagues greets her. May smiles back and waves.

“Hey Sandy, how have you been?” she asks. Sandy just shrugs.

“I’ve been alright, nothing much happened here,” she continues. May’s eyes open up wide.

“No way, that scientist with the arms _still_ hasn’t woken up?” she asks. Sandy shakes her head.

“No, still in that coma,” she explains. “I wish he would just wake up. It’s extremely difficult to care for the guy with all those arms in the way, you know!”

“Yeah, I remember,” May returns, shuddering at the thought. She drops her bag at the nurse’s station and grabs a paper with the list of patients. Indeed, besides the new names that weren’t there before she left for the weekend, the still familiar name of ‘Otto Octavius’ is still written out neatly. “I can’t imagine how it’ll be for him to wake up,” she admits.

“What do you mean?” Sandy asks. They come to stand at the door of the patient’s room, keeping their voices low. It’s not like he can hear them, but the other patients could. They notice the doctor standing by the man’s bedside, once again having a look at the place where the exo-skeleton is stuck to his spine. So far, all their attempts of removing it have been unsuccessful. The arms defend themselves, and multiple nurses and doctors have been thrown around the room in the trying.

“Well, the guy’s wife of so many years is dead. He has no children, no more house, his life’s work has literally failed. I would be pretty upset to hear all that. I think we should be careful when we tell him.”

Sandy nods. “I guess you’re right,” she calls out. They turn around, the other nurses waiting for them to join their briefing. “Say, how’s that nephew of yours doing?”

Meanwhile, back in the room of Otto Octavius, the arms start stirring. One of them, the top left one, leans towards the patient, tapping him gently on the shoulders. The patient stirs again, his head turning from the left to the right.

As he tries to breathe, he realizes that there’s something stuck in his throat. Immediately, he reacts. He tries to lift up his arms, reach for the thing that’s been jammed inside, but his arms don’t move. His muscles hurt to much when he tries. In that realization, Otto’s heart starts racing.

Simultaneously, the monitor next to him indicates that very same fact. The beeping becomes fast, notifying probably everybody at the nurse’s station. It goes on and on, until there’s a sudden crash. The sound is gone. He feels something on his back, aware of something he didn’t have before.

That afternoon, Otto Octavius wakes up from his coma at last.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, this surely has been a ride!   
> I'm not really sure what I should say. It feels like the beginning of the story wrote out easily, the middle part became a bitch to write, and the ending went by easily again! There was a moment of writer's block that I couldn't get myself out of, I think. But, I'm glad it's finished at last!   
> There's probably a whole lot of things I haven't addressed. Writing stories during my internship isn't really the best idea in the world, probably! If there's some things I've missed, don't be afraid to point those out and I'll clarify them in the timestamps! 
> 
> I am aware that I've practially finished the story with a cliffhanger. I'm not intending on writing the story of Peter vs. Octavius. I mostly added that last part because I felt it was stupid to bring up Octavius' experiment, but then never use him again in the story. Sure, I somehow felt the need to use him in that one chapter, but I never had planned an actual storyline with him. 
> 
> I would like to thank Caspinn for helping me get this story together. Whenever I had lost all hope for it, she was there to guide me through it! Secondly, I would like to thank all of you, readers, for standing behind us during this project. In the past I've often felt like I was writing stories for nobody. Getting into the Marvel Fandom, there was this whole sudden difference with all the other fandoms! I'm so glad I get to be a part of this amazing community, and that you're all there with us! I certainly hope you've enjoyed the story!
> 
> Now, there's still a part of the series I need to finish before the next timestamp will be posted! Let's get to work!


End file.
